The Quest For A New Life
by Brockster550
Summary: An AU where Harry makes a female friend at St. Grogery's Primary School, who also comes from an abusive home. They end up having enough of their lives one day, so they plan to run away, never to return, and begin a quest for a better life. As of June 2018, this story is officially in collaboration with 5UP3RN0V4. "Now complete!" Sequel to be announced.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: Harry Potter is owned by J.K. Rowling. I just own the fanfic and OC. No copyright intended!_

 ** _Summary: Nine year old Harry Potter is a lonely boy. He is friendless, nobody seems to care about him. His aunt, uncle and cousin bully him, abuse him and neglect him. The Dursleys have never accepted Harry as a member of the family, despite his efforts, all because of his 'abnormality.' Now, a manipulative old wizard decides that Harry is too unworthy to attend Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry, even though his deputy headmistress protests it. One day at St. Grogery's Primary School, he crosses paths with a beautiful girl who is also abused and neglected, also because she has some 'abnormality.' She's the only student who neither Dudley, Piers, Dennis, Malcolm, nor Gordon can scare away, and she and Harry get to know each other. Finally, after one day at school, they snap, finally having had enough of their terrible lives, so they decide to leave London and begin a quest for a new life, and maybe a loving family, staying away from cities as much as possible and instead be out in the country. This incident, naturally, causes quite a scandal with the wizarding world. What will two unloved kids do to accomplish their goal?_**

 **Author's note: This story will start on the first day of Harry and Dudley's fifth year at St. Grogery's Primary School. Harry will also be paired with an OFC (Original Female Character), and upon running away, their journey will be something like a cross-country adventure. This is completely AU, as it will be a runaway Harry fanfic. Harry will find out about magic earlier than anticipated. Harry and his friend also won't just trust anyone easily. Rated 'M' just in case, for implied child abuse and implied alcoholism. No real bashing of anyone, except for the Dursleys, Dudley's gang, and Greater Good Dumbledore. Hermione will also be friends with the Weasleys before Hogwarts.**

The Quest For A New Life

fanfic by Brockster550

Ch. 1

The First Day Of School

The Dursley family of #4 Privet Drive of Little Whinging in Surrey, England were what alot of the neighbors believed to be a normal family. Vernon Dursley was a large beefy man with hardly any neck. He was the director of a firm called Grunnings, a company that manufactures drills of all sorts. Vernon was proud of his position and also liked to brag about it, as he gets paid good money.

Petunia Dursley (nee Evans) was a tall woman with short, curly brown hair, who also had twice the usual amount of neck. This came in handy because Petunia liked to spy on neighbors and watch one of her neighbor's garden. Petunia was also a housewife and she also took pride in being a 'normal' family.

Vernon and Petunia's son, Dudley was a large, portly boy with blonde hair. To Vernon and Petunia, there was no finer boy than their precious Dudley. He was the picture of innocence in their minds. They tend to give Dudley anything he wants and allow him to rule the house. The neighbors tend to believe everything the Dursleys say, even if, in truth, looks can be deceiving.

What the neighbors didn't know was that #4 Privet Drive also housed a small, raven-haired boy. This boy was said to be 'a burden' to the Dursleys. This boy was also the reason that Petunia's garden was so neat and tidy, but she took pleasure in lying about it. Unlike Dudley, this boy also had to do an unreasonable amount of chores, usually within a certain time limit and got almost nothing in return. Dudley hardly worked for anything, but he was given all sorts of presents, loads of pocket money, you-name-it!

The small raven-haired boy was called Harry Potter, but he was almost never called that. His 'relatives' invariably called him freak, idiot, moron, or told the boy that he was simply a burden. While Dudley got the best clothes, young Harry was always given Dudley's hand-me-downs, and they were several sizes too big for Harry, to the point where he had to use a belt to keep his overly large pants from falling down. Harry also never got any toys or anything good to eat, as all of that was reserved for Dudley only. Because of Dudley getting alot to eat (especially junk food), he was grossly fat, while Harry hardly got anything to eat, and that resulted in him being unhealthily skinny, as his ribs were noticeable.

Young Harry also had a countless number of bruises and scars, and some of them happened to be fairly recent, thanks to his uncle and cousin. Dudley's gang members also helped in giving the bruises and scars to Harry, and Harry's overly large shirt wouldn't do an effective job at hiding them, as the shirt could slip off at anytime and expose the bruises and scars. Dudley also got two bedrooms to himself, one where he slept in and one where he would keep his extra toys in, while Harry was forced to sleep in the cupboard under the stairs.

It was a quarter after five in the morning, and nine-year-old Harry was asleep. Unfortunately, this didn't last much longer, as he was jolted awake by the loud and rude rapping on the door to his cupboard under the stairs.

"GET UP, NOW, FREAK!" screeched the voice of Harry's aunt Petunia.

"Getting up." said Harry, trying to hide his irritation.

"Now start cooking breakfast," said Aunt Petunia. "It's the first day of school, so I don't wanna see the breakfast burnt."

"Yes Aunt Petunia." said Harry as he got out of his cupboard.

Then he walked into the kitchen and got out the eggs and bacon. Then, Harry grabbed a frying pan, placed it on a stove burner, set it to the necessary temperature, and started frying eggs. He had finished cooking the bacon when his uncle Vernon and cousin Dudley walked into the dining room. Despite cooking the breakfast, Harry wasn't praised for it, nor did he get to have any.

After breakfast was over, Harry and Dudley got dressed into their school uniforms. Dudley's was all new, while Harry got the hand-me-down rags that appeared to be about four sizes too big. Harry once said that he needed clothes his size, which got him beaten with his uncle's belt. While Harry was smart, he wisely kept a minimal effort because if he got better (or much worse) grades than Dudley, he would get beatings. As he and Dudley started walking to the bus stop, Harry kept his distance as much as possible, especially when he spotted Dudley's gang meeting up with him. The other members were Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss (who was also Dudley's second-in-command), Dennis, Malcolm and Gordon.

As they got on the bus, Harry sat near the front while Dudley and his gang sat near the back. All of the kids ignored Harry, as Dudley and his cronies were the reason for that, and the reason Harry didn't have any friends. They scared off and/or beat up anybody who approached Harry to try befriending him. This was also the reason Harry opted to go to the school library from time to time and usually at recess, since Dudley and his gang always avoided going in there. Harry also saw something good out of that, as the librarian asked Harry to help out when it was needed, thus giving Harry something to distract him from his life, if one could call it that.

The bus made it to the front of St. Grogery's Primary School. Harry dreaded this because Dudley and the rest of his gang members were also in Harry's class. Their fifth year teacher's name was Mrs. Welker. This was her third year teaching. Harry walked around the classroom and found his name on a desk at the front of the room. Dudley was seated at the back, with Piers, while Dennis got a desk in the second row, Malcolm and Gordon were seated in the fourth row. When the students' names were called, they all stood up and introduced themselves. Harry didn't have much to tell about himself, which relieved Dudley because he didn't want the 'freak' to say that they were cousins.

Somehow, Harry managed to have something of an uneventful day. In gym class, he was the last one chosen, which he dreadfully expected. It wasn't because he wasn't any good, it was because Dudley and his gang would see that as Harry befriending anybody, and all of the other students were terrified to try to make friends with Harry, out of fear of getting beat up. At lunch, Harry sat by himself, which he also expected because, as Dudley and his gang would say, nobody would want to sit next to the 'stick-skinny boy with overly large clothes.' Alot of students only reluctantly agreed, just to avoid getting pounded to a pulp, and reporting it to the teachers wouldn't do any good, because Dudley and his gang saw that as tattle-taling (even though it clearly wasn't). At recess (anytime the library was closed), Harry would just simply hide in the bushes, to avoid getting beat up. That was just a normal day for Harry, but all of that would soon change.

(Two weeks later)

Fourteen days had passed and Harry, as usual was forced to cook breakfast (but he almost never got any of it), tend 'Petunia's' garden, and do any chore, while Vernon and Petunia's 'precious Diddykins' got to do whatever he wanted. Harry was getting tired of this treatment he'd been receiving for as long as he could remember. Every year on his birthday, and Christmas, he always wished for a loving family, which was never granted. Life just always seemed so unfair for him, while life always seemed fair for the Dursleys, as well as for Dudley's gang members.

The next morning, Harry got up to cook breakfast, being careful not to burn it, otherwise it was a punishment if he did. Harry finished when Vernon and Dudley made it into the kitchen. They just ignored Harry, which was fine by him, even though Harry often wished that they would praise him, he never counted on it happening. That just proved how terrible the Dursleys were, and Harry often wondered why neither his uncle, nor cousin just died from heart attacks, given how fat they were.

(At St. Grogery's Primary School, during recess)

Harry was busy trying to outrun his fat-whale-of-a-cousin, Dudley and his gang. He usually could outrun them because they never bothered to exercise all that much, Dudley especially. In a desperate attempt to avoid their favourite game called 'Harry Hunting,' Harry strolled into the school library and peeked through the door window. He saw Dudley and his gang looking around.

"The freak has to be around here somewhere," Piers ranted. "We're bigger than he is, so how could he outrun us?"

"Yeah," agreed Dudley. "How can he? Bigger people should be able to outrun smaller people. The freak might be at the playground now, so let's go confront him there!"

Harry blew a sigh of relief once Dudley and his gang walked outside to the playground. Then he went to find a book to read. As he was doing so, he saw a girl with light brown hair that was tied up into a medium ponytail in a pink bow with white polka-dots, and she seemed to be reading a book as well. Naturally, Harry found himself unable to approach her and introduce himself, due to Dudley and his gang's negative influence. Harry picked up a copy of the book _Curious George_ by _H.A. Rey_ , and found a seat to sit down and read. Harry, for some reason found himself unable to stop peeking occasional glances at the girl (who was sitting four tables away). Anytime it seemed like she would look his way, Harry would go back to reading. After the fourth time of having done so, the girl finally got up and walked over to Harry (who was getting nervous, naturally believing this to be another occurrence of getting taunted for his overly-large hand-me-downs and stick-skinny frame). Instead of looking at him in disgust, the girl just gave Harry a smile. Harry also saw that she had the most beautiful hazel coloured eyes.

"You know, you could've just sat at the table I was sitting at." said the girl.

"I-I thought y-you'd just... make fun of me, because of the rags I'm wearing," said Harry nervously. "Not to mention that I'm t-too sk-skinny!"

"Nah, I couldn't," the girl replied. "Those five, fat kids who gang up on you, are the real cowards, despite what most of the students think."

"Oh," said Harry. "Well, the leader is my cousin, Dudley."

"That's odd," said the girl. "He always goes off claiming that he isn't related to you."

"Lying is something he enjoys," said Harry with contempt in his voice. "Especially about anything regarding me!"

"I'm Hailey," the girl introduced herself, holding a hand out at Harry. "Hailey Brandwood!"

"I'm Harry, Harry Potter!" said Harry as he shook hands with Hailey.

"Are you really?" said Hailey as her eyes widened in surprise. "I-I've heard all about you!"

"You did?" said Harry, baffled. "But, I'm just an ordinary child!"

"You're famous in the wizarding world," Hailey began explaining. "My mum was a witch, and she once told me about how you made He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named disappear, after your parents gave up their lives to save yours!"

"I never knew that," said Harry, surprised. "I was told they were drunks who died in a car crash."

"What?" said Hailey, outraged. "Who would lie to you about that?"

Harry was hesitating to answer, not wanting any more beatings from Uncle Vernon. The last five times he reported Dudley and his gang bullying him, it was always called off somehow, and Uncle Vernon would always give the 'freak' more unrelenting beatings, as well as meal deprivations, and a couple weeks in his cupboard. Hailey gave Harry an encouraging look, as if to say that he can tell her.

"My aunt and uncle," said Harry. "But anytime they claimed my parents died in the car crash, they never looked me in the eye, and they even said it in a quick voice. Then, they would 'remind' me not to ask questions."

"The worst sort of muggles they are," said Hailey. "Keeping certain information from you."

"What are muggles?" asked Harry.

"That's what the wizarding world refers to non-magic people," Hailey explained. "My father is one, but he doesn't care about me. My mum died a couple years ago, and a week later, my father revealed his true colours, and enjoys abusing me. In fact, he gets drunk frequently and just yells at me, and even hits me in any way possible."

"That's what my uncle does," said Harry. "He makes sure he gets drunk enough before giving me unrelenting beatings. Every Christmas and every year on my birthday, I keep wishing for a better life, with a loving family."

"Same here," said Hailey. "It seems like our wishes will never get granted."

"Yeah," said Harry. "It's not too much to ask and yet, it seems like luck for us doesn't work much."

All too soon, recess was over and the two kids had to head back to their respective classrooms. Over the next few weeks, Harry and Hailey continued hanging out in the library, helping the librarian out. She filled Harry in about the wizarding world and she also mentioned that her mother once encouraged her to go to school in the muggle world, calling it an experiment to see how muggles manage. Sitting together at lunch wasn't an option because of Dudley and his gang always scaring anybody off who tried approaching Harry. Hailey would help with Harry's food deprivation by saving some food and giving them to Harry. Their friendship was also kept secret, so no kid would inform Dudley and his gang, and at the same time, risk Hailey getting beat to pulp.

One day, the library was closed during one recess, so Harry and Hailey couldn't hang out in there. Dudley and his gang eyed Harry with evil smiles. They hadn't been able to beat up the 'freak' all that much for several weeks.

"Alright, freak," said Dudley. "Since you've been eluding many of your punishments, you're going to be getting even harsher ones!"

"Fine," said Harry slyly. "But before you do, are you, Piers, Dennis, Malcolm or Gordon the 'greatest' bully ever?"

"That would be me!" said Dudley proudly.

"Are your 'friends,' really your friends?" asked Harry.

"Yes," said Dudley. "Because I'm the greatest bully!"

"I thought I was!" said Piers.

"Wait, I should be the greatest bully." said Dennis.

"Nah, it should be me!" said Malcolm.

"No way, I am!" said Gordon.

"No, you know I am!" whined Dudley.

This resulted in the gang arguing over the title for the greatest bully. Then, the five bullies began beating each other up, for the title of 'the greatest bully ever.' This caught a teacher's attention and she (along with four more teachers) came over to restore order. The five bullies were escorted to the nurse's office, and were subsequently punished with two weeks worth of detention. The other kids were shocked at how Harry had turned the tables on the bullies, without so much as receiving a punch or a kick. Hailey, on the other hand had witnessed it all and she was laughing until tears came a pouring down her face.

Harry knew that it was inevitable that Aunt Petunia and, worst of all, Uncle Vernon would find out, and they did, since Dudley lied about the situation, yet again. Harry was given extra chores by his aunt, and his uncle gave him more unrelenting beatings. This was the final straw, Harry had enough of his life. At the same time, Hailey was also having enough of her life. Neither one knew that they were planning on running away.

 _To be continued!_


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: As mentioned before, J.K. Rowling owns the wonderful world of Harry Potter. This fanfic, and my OC are all I own. No copyright intended!_

Ch. 2

Operation Runaway

The next day, luck was a little better for Harry and Hailey. The library was opened again, allowing Harry and Hailey to hang out without any threats from Dudley and his gang. They got out some paper and pencils and started writing out plans on running away. They were about to tell each other, but the two realized that they were planning the same thing, making them smile.

"Well, one thing we need is money," said Harry. "Dudley gets pocket money for anything, even if it's irrational, while I never get any, even for all the chores I'm ordered to do! The Dursleys enjoyment of treating me like a slave are just about over!"

"We'll also need to go out into the country," Hailey advised. "Running around London on our own will attract unwanted attention, especially from the police!"

"You're right, Hailey," Harry agreed. "At the same time, this will allow us to explore the countryside. We'll need to be careful who we talk to, we don't wanna draw up any suspicions!"

"That's true," said Hailey. "We'll need to use cover stories if anybody asks us questions that we can't afford to answer."

"Yeah," said Harry. "We'll also need to be cautious, because if the wrong person were to find out about our true intentions, we'll be in huge trouble and we'd be forced to go back to our so-called families!"

"The day we leave, when should that be?" asked Hailey.

"Friday afternoon would be the best option," said Harry. "Knowing my uncle doesn't get off til 6 PM, plus Dudley will just go over to Piers' house for several hours. My aunt Petunia will be gone, as she goes to book club meetings. She thinks that it helps her with her gossiping skills. That'll be a perfect chance for us to pick up a few things before we leave!"

"Yeah," said Hailey, getting ecstatic. "My father will also be gone, likely at a bar for hours on end. I can also pick up some stuff, and we'll meet up at the east end of Privet Drive. Then we'll make a beeline for the countryside!"

"This is gonna be fun," said Harry, also getting ecstatic. "This will give everyone, except for the librarian a taste of their own medicine! It's making me nervous, but excited at the same time!"

"Yeah, same here!" agreed Hailey. "We'll also need to write farewell notes, since the librarian was trustworthy!"

"Yeah, she was," said Harry. "Too bad she couldn't do much to help. Some of my teachers who tried to help me ended up getting fired unjustly, and having that happen to the librarian is not something I wanna cause, even indirectly."

So the two continued with their planning. All too soon, school was over for the day. At dinnertime, Harry cooked up the meal as usual. Harry's acting skills really paid off, he was able to keep his excitement hidden. After all, the Dursleys always saw a happy Harry as a nightmare. Once it was time for bed, Harry went back into his cupboard under the stairs, with a cheerful smile. Hailey, too had a happy smile as she fell asleep that same night.

(Friday morning)

Friday finally arrived, the day Harry and Hailey were planning on leaving, for good! Harry decided to defy the wishes of not doing better than Dudley. That was one way of giving Dudley his just desserts, to teach him that money was never the answer to homework assignments. He heard Dudley brag about how his dad bribed the headmistress to make sure Dudley would pass and move to the next year, despite Dudley not being smart enough to do the work on his own.

Harry and Hailey continued helping out in the library at recess, while discussing their plan once more. Once recess was over, Harry and Hailey put their respective folded-up farewell notes at the bottom of a stack of papers on the librarian's desk. Harry and Hailey took one last look at the library, which saddened them a bit, but they knew they needed a better life. Once they finished, they headed back to their respective classrooms.

The rest of the day ticked by real slowly for Harry and Hailey. They couldn't wait to leave their terrible lives behind and begin their quest for better lives. Harry had to endure Piers and Malcolm poking him, but Harry ignored it (surprising the delusional bullies into quitting). Finally, school was over for the weekend, Harry and Hailey blew sighs of relief. Once Harry got off at his stop, he started walking to the house, while Dudley got off and walked to Piers' house to meet up with him, Dennis, Malcolm and Gordon. Even though Harry knew what his 'relatives' plans were, he was still being cautious and trying to hurry up, knowing about the possibility that there could be a change of plans.

Harry saw the list of chores for him for that afternoon, Saturday and Sunday. But he ripped the list up defiantly and threw them in the trash can. Then he made his way upstairs to the master bedroom. Harry heard Dudley brag about how Vernon and Petunia kept stashes and stashes of cash in the top drawer. True to Dudley's word, there were a countless number of stacks of cash. There were fifty pound notes, twenty pound notes, and even ten pound and five pound notes. Harry helped himself to some of each. He felt bad for doing this (knowing that stealing was wrong), though given the circumstances, it was justified. The Dursleys owed Harry an indefinite amount of money for all the times they treated him like a slave. Harry took the amount he believed he was owed, though the Dursleys likely owed him even more, but Harry only took how much would be needed. Not only that, but given how much Vernon earned at his job at Grunnings, he would very easily get the money back, plus much more. Harry also grabbed some for Hailey, to split 50-50. Once he was done, Harry closed the drawer back up to where it was, making sure to cover up any evidence that he was in the master bedroom. Then, he changed into a set of his overly-large hand-me-downs for everyday wear. Then he emptied his backpack of his school stuff, put them in the cupboard, and packed some of his clothes into the backpack. Then Harry sneaked some bagged food, like chips, candy bars, etc... etc, and packed them (making sure to pack some extras, so he could share some with Hailey). After finishing up, Harry walked out of the house, this time it was for good. Then, he jogged down to the east end of Privet Drive to meet up with Hailey.

Harry had been waiting for approximately five to ten minutes when he saw his best friend jogging up to him. She lived two streets north of Privet Drive, on Eastwood Boulevard. Harry saw that she had packed some clothes, and some bagged food and candy bars as well, but best friends look out for one another, which was initially why Harry packed food for Hailey, too. Harry also gave half of the money to Hailey.

"Where did all this come from?" she asked, puzzled.

"I nicked it from a drawer in my aunt and uncle's room," Harry explained. "Seeing how they ripped me off for all those times they treated me like a slave, it was justified. They likely owed me much more than that, but I only took the necessary amount."

"Oh okay," said Hailey. "Teaching them the hard way what ripping somebody off can do!"

Harry and Hailey gave each other a hug. They were happy to finally start their quest and have each other by their side. So they headed south, seeing that there was more wide, open areas south of where they were. They tried avoiding unnecessary attention, but there were a few close calls. A police officer asked them what they were doing, so Harry and Hailey told the officer that they were going exploring. The officer bought it and drove off. Once the police car was out of sight, the two kids blew a sigh of relief. So they continued south.

(Three and a half hours later)

Dudley and his gang made it back to Dudley's house, hoping to pound the 'freak' to a pulp. They saw no one in the house, so they searched inside the house everywhere, but the 'freak' never turned up. At just that moment, Aunt Petunia arrived back home. When she saw Dudley and his friends looking around, she could tell something wasn't right.

"Dudders, what is it?" Petunia asked her son.

"The freak, he's nowhere to be found!" Dudley whined.

"Don't worry," Petunia soothed her son. "Once he makes it back, he'll be in so much trouble he'll be in that cupboard for months!"

All too soon, Uncle Vernon arrived home from work. He was told what all was going on. He, too, was mad that the 'freak' didn't do his chores. Petunia eventually noticed that the chore list was gone, she remembered leaving it on the coffee table before she left for her meeting. Vernon was turning purple with fury that the 'freak' was staying away from them for longer periods than anticipated. Then, Dudley threw a temper tantrum because he saw that some of the treats were gone.

"Don't worry, popkin," Petunia assured her son soothingly. "We'll get you some more tomorrow!"

Vernon was becoming even more furious, so he went to get himself some brandy, so he could be drunk enough once the 'freak' made it back. But none of the Dursleys would ever acknowledge that Harry wasn't going to come back. Likewise, Hailey's father eventually made it home and he was furious that his daughter was out past curfew, so he started drinking whiskey, to ensure this would teach his daughter a lesson not to defy him. It wouldn't occur to Mr. Brandwood that his daughter had no intentions of returning.

(9:00 PM)

Harry and Hailey were pretty tired from all the running. They made it to the outskirts of Little Whinging. They decided to find a place to sleep among the trees. They saw some kind of tent and approached it cautiously. Hailey spotted a note and, like a spell getting cast, some light appeared over the note, which read:

 _To whoever finds this tent, this is a magical tent. It looks small on the outside, but bigger on the inside. It will provide you with anything you need, and will also be something like a house that you can live in. Don't worry, magic will keep the inside secure, even if you pack it up and find another location to set up camp. This tent is also under the fidelius charm, so no one will notice that it's there. This tent helps out anybody in need. Good luck to whoever finds this tent._

Harry and Hailey were surprised, though Hailey understood what a fidelius charm was. They walked inside the tent and found a cozy living room, dining room, kitchen, a couple bedrooms, and a bathroom. There was even a pantry that had strange doors on it, but the two kids were too exhausted to read the note on one of the doors. The beds in the bedrooms were comfortable, which would be especially beneficial for Harry, who's 'bed' back at Privet Drive was only a worn-out mattress.

"I could get used to this!" said Harry.

"Yeah, me, too," said Hailey. "Since living at my father's house has never really been my home, I never considered it home, because of what he had been doing!"

"I could never call the Dursleys house home," said Harry. "It never has, and pretty much never will be!"

"Yeah," said Hailey. "I do wonder what tomorrow will bring!"

"Yeah, me, too," said Harry. "Perhaps we should get some sleep, to be prepared. Today was only the beginning!"

"You're right, Harry," said Hailey. "Well, goodnight, sleep well!"

"Goodnight, Hailey, sleep well!" said Harry.

So the two went into their respective bedrooms and climbed into bed, and all too soon, they drifted off to sleep. Little did they know that Harry's words caused some silver instruments on a desk in the office of a certain castle miles and miles away, to just break and collapse, and a certain wizard who resided in the office wasn't there to witness that, due to being asleep.

(The next morning, at 6:30 AM)

Harry and Hailey got up and, at first thought the whole thing was a dream. Then they remembered that they ran away from Little Whinging yesterday afternoon, which relieved them. Harry went to the cupboard with the strange doors, opened it and saw nothing. When he closed it back up, he noticed the note on one of the doors, which read:

 _This is a wish-for-anything cupboard. It will grant anybody whatever they request and the item(s) requested will appear. A glowing light will tell you that the requested item(s) are on the way. Good luck experimenting!_

Intrigued, Harry gave it a try and wished for breakfast foods. Then, a glowing light shined from behind the cupboard doors, and presto, breakfast foods appeared once Harry opened the door. He got the eggs and bacon out and started cooking. The smell of eggs and bacon woke Hailey up, and she saw Harry cooking breakfast. Once they finished breakfast, Harry showed Hailey the wish-for-anything cupboard. She wished for nice clothes for Harry and herself, then the light shined again, and when they opened the doors, they saw clothes for them, their size. Harry always had overly-large hand-me-downs, so this was a new experience for him. Hailey, however did get to wear clothes her size, even before yesterday afternoon. Hailey grabbed a set of clothes and went into the bathroom to shower. Harry found a book on the coffee table, so he picked it up and read it. It told Harry some useful ways of keeping magic under control without a wand.

'Now that _is_ useful!' thought Harry.

He knew walking around London, even with Hailey accompanying him, without parents or guardians would attract unwanted attention. Harry couldn't risk that happening, especially after having decided to lead a new and better life. Once Hailey got out of the shower, she went to her bedroom to change into her clothes, while Harry grabbed his set and went to shower, while Hailey saw the book Harry had been reading and she, too read the book that provided some useful ways to control magic without the use of a wand. She knew that underage magic would also bring unwanted attention, and she and Harry wanted to do things the muggle way anyway, finding that more challenging _and_ more rewarding. Hailey also knew that magic alone too much wasn't a good thing.

Meanwhile in the office of the aforementioned castle, where the silver instruments were kept on the desk, the wizard who owned them got up and went to check the instruments. The wizard was flabbergasted that the instruments had stopped working.

"Where could Harry be?" the wizard asked himself.

Then, he got out a trackoscope, a type of instrument that helped keep track of wizards who have tracking charms placed on them, and attempted to use it.

"What name do you request?" the enchanted voice coming from the trackoscope said.

"Harry Potter!" said the wizard.

"Scanning," said the enchanted voice, then a few seconds later, it continued. "I'm sorry, but your request is invalid!"

"What?!" exclaimed the wizard, who tried again. "Harry Potter!"

"Scanning," said the enchanted voice. "I'm sorry, but there is no wizard by that name anywhere!"

The wizard began fuming. Where could Harry be? How did he become untraceable? He needed to be with the Dursleys, it was all for the Greater Good! The wizard had to take care of duties, so he had little choice but to leave his office.

Back inside the tent, Harry had finished showering. Wearing clothes his size _was_ something new for him. Harry and Hailey opted to wear summer clothes, since they knew that the cold days were bound to get here fast, and they wanted to enjoy the nice weather while they could. Harry was wearing an emerald-green short-sleeve t-shirt, jeans, green socks and green tennis shoes. Hailey was wearing a purple t-shirt and jeans cropped at the shins, purple socks, and purple converse sneakers with yellow stripes. They vowed to avoid abusing the wish-for-anything cupboard, not wanting to let the whole thing get to them. Before leaving the tent to pack it, Harry used the cupboard for a new backpack, which was granted. After making sure they had what they needed packed into their backpacks, Harry and Hailey left the tent, packed it up and began their first full day of their quest. Hailey also applied some makeup over Harry's scar, as that especially could also attract unwanted attention, and they began walking.

"I do wonder how far the next town would be." said Hailey.

"Me, too," said Harry. "We'll just have to wait and see!"

"Yeah," agreed Hailey. "It _is_ a good idea to see the sights, after all!"

So the two kids continued following the road. They would hide if they saw any vehicle drive by, especially any vehicle that was police related. Their previous encounter with a police officer yesterday afternoon made them more cautious. Little did the two know that they were in for some surprises that not even police officers would be able to deal with.

 _To be continued!_


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: As mentioned before, J.K. Rowling owns the rights to the Harry Potter franchise. This story, and the OC Hailey Brandwood are all I own. No copyright intended._

 **Author's note 1: Harry and Hailey won't try boarding a bus, or anything, since it could increase the odds of them getting identified, and they'd be forced to return to their so-called families. They will experience some occasional occurences during the course of their journey, where they'll cross paths with canon characters, like the Weasleys, for example.**

Ch. 3

The Fun Begins!

Harry and Hailey resumed their journey for the next several hours, taking occasional breaks to regain energy. For restroom needs, they would wait until they were within the trees before taking care of their business. They refrained from going inside to use a public restroom, for fear of being spotted and they didn't want any unnecessary attention. Some of the times, they would jog and other times, they would walk, at the same time, making sure to drink plenty of water. Around 11:30 AM, they decided on a lunch break, being careful not enter any building, and yet they enjoyed the outside fresh air anyway.

It was a quarter to 2:00 PM when the two runaways spotted a freight train on a stop. It looked like the train was getting refueled. Harry and Hailey grinned at each other, having decided to take the risk and hop into one of the cars, hoping this will allow them a better and faster chance of putting even more distance away from Little Whinging, and reduce the risk of their respective relatives finding them. Fifteen minutes later, the freight resumed it's route to an unspecified destination. Harry and Hailey decided to wait where the train would lead them. They also decided on taking a nap while they were on their way to the unspecified destination.

(Back at Privet Drive)

Dudley was throwing massive temper tantrums, he hadn't gone so long without beating the 'freak' up before. Vernon looked like a winding rhinoceros, and Petunia was extremely grouchy. They didn't have the 'freak' to cook them breakfast, tend the garden, wash the dishes, etc... etc. Vernon and Petunia had called the police, pretending to be distraught over the disappearance of their nephew. Once the police left, they returned to their animosity toward the 'freak,' with Vernon 'promising' to pound the 'freak' to the moon and back. The wizard who was keeping 'track' of Harry, and a witch wearing emerald green robes, were spying on the Dursleys from down the west end of the street.

"Minerva, how could Harry have disappeared into thin air?" asked the wizard, who was wearing colourful robes.

"I haven't a clue, Albus," said the witch named Minerva. "But, I'm not buying that whole 'distraught' malarkey the Dursleys were using on the muggle police!"

"Harry must return, Minerva," said the wizard named Albus. "It's for the Greater Good!"

"And what good is that?" asked Minerva in a hysterical voice. "You've already decided that he can't attend Hogwarts, even when he becomes of age to get his acceptance letters! I've tried talking you out of that, since Harry is bound to be a powerful wizard!"

"If he goes to Hogwarts," Albus tried defending his actions. "He won't be able to face his destiny!"

"But he could still attend," Minerva argued. "How will he be able to control his magic if he doesn't get to go to Hogwarts?"

"I've got my reasons, Minerva," claimed Albus. "Why don't we go to Spinner's End and see if Severus found Harry."

"Well, okay," said Minerva reluctantly. "But I doubt Harry would make it that far within such a short period of time, from the time he left that is!"

So Albus and Minerva used some sort of transportation spell to vanish from Privet Drive and appear at a street called Spinner's End. They walked up to the front door of number 12, and rang the doorbell. Then a minute later, a man with long, black, greasy hair, answered the door.

"Albus! Minerva!" greeted the man named Severus. "Any luck?"

"No," said Albus. "It looks like Harry must've disappeared somehow, into thin air!"

"How long must we look?" asked Severus irritably. "You're lucky that this is a weekend, Albus! Looking for Potter during the school year isn't exactly the best time!"

"He needs to return to the Dursleys," said Albus firmly. "He needs to face his destiny, for the Greater Good!"

Severus inwardly groaned, he didn't want to search for the Potter brat. He was likely allowing the privileged life get to him. That's how young Potter's father, James lived, and that (in Severus' opinion, at least) made Harry just like his father.

'This is gonna be a long, long search!' thought Severus bitterly. 'If only I had some way of fast forwarding time, so it can all be over with.'

(Back on the freight train)

It was around a quarter after 5:00 PM when the freight train slowed down, waking the two runaways up with a jolt. They were asleep longer than expected and while they were napping, they didn't realize that they had been holding onto each other. Harry had his arms around Hailey's waist, while Hailey had her arms over Harry's neck and shoulders. The two widened their eyes in shock when they saw for themselves and they immediately let go of each other, but they were blushing (with their cheeks bright red) at the same time. Once they got over their shock, they slowly scooted over to the open door and saw that it was nearly sunset, but they also saw that it was another stop the train made. The engineers had stopped for refreshments, and this gave the two runaways the chance to sneak away, luckily they didn't get caught (something that relieved them). Once they were safe, they got the tent out, set it up and went in. Neither Harry, nor Hailey were were all that hungry, due to their nervousness of having woken up to seeing their arms around each other.

"I'm sorry, Hailey," said Harry. "I never expected that occur!"

"Me, neither, Harry," said Hailey. "I guess falling asleep didn't make either of us realize that this would happen!"

The two still blushed at the memory. Despite the nap, the two runaways were still tired, since sleeping in a sitting position wasn't very comfortable. So Harry and Hailey got ready for bed, said goodnight to each other, went into their respective bedrooms and all too soon, they were asleep.

(Meanwhile, at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft Wizardry)

Albus, Minerva and Severus returned to the school, after a full day of their futile attempt to find Harry. They were fairly knackered, having searched everywhere around Surrey and London. Albus thought he'd find Harry, due to a tracking charm he placed on Harry the night he brought the boy to the Dursleys, and yet, somehow he didn't have any real success finding young Harry. What nobody realized (not even Harry, nor Hailey) was that when Harry entered the tent under the fidelius charm, it unexpectedly removed the tracking charm placed on Harry.

(The next morning, back in the tent)

It was 5:30 AM when the two runaways woke up. They decided on eating some fruit and vegetables for breakfast, to make sure it would give them plenty of energy, also knowing that foods like bacon or fried chicken would've made them all sluggish, not to mention nauseaous if they exercised after eating those particular foods. It was Sunday, October 8th, and this made Harry and Hailey realize that they needed to be extra cautious on the weekdays when they were out and about, since they would likely be accused of skipping school if any adult, police officers especially were to spot them. Once they packed up the necessities into their backpacks, as well as Hailey, once again applying makeup over Harry's scar, they packed up the tent, and started their second full-day journey.

 _To be continued!_

 **Author's note 2: I apologize for this chapter being a little short. So that's why I've uploaded this chapter and chapter 4 on the same day, hoping this will make up for it.**


	4. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: As usual, J.K. Rowling is the owner of the Harry Potter franchise, I just own this fanfic and OC. No copyright intended!_

Ch. 4

Ottery St. Catchpole

An hour or so later, Harry and Hailey made it to the outside of the town limits of a town called Ottery St. Catchpole. It looked to be a peaceful town. Still, they knew that they needed to be wary, since they never know if there was somebody out there who would, and could take them back 'home.' So they walked around the town and came upon a southbound road that led them away from the town. The road going south (which had a bridge going over a river called River Otter) went on for five miles. On the way, Harry and Hailey spotted what looked like somebody with red-hair driving a blue Ford Anglia. The two runaways tried dashing into the trees, but the driver, unfortunately spotted them before they could, and pulled over.

"Are you kids lost?" asked the man with red hair.

"No, we're just exploring," said Harry. "It's our favourite hobby!"

"It also gives us plenty of fresh air!" said Hailey.

"Oh okay," said the man with red-hair. "Well, have fun!"

So the man drove away, and as soon as the Ford Anglia was out of sight, Harry and Hailey ran into the trees to hide, just to be sure that the man didn't come back. The man driving the Ford Anglia drove for another three miles before he pulled over, having gotten suspicious of the boy with untidy black hair.

"Wait a minute," the man said to himself. "Wasn't that Harry Potter? It looked like him, but if that boy has that scar, then he must be Harry! But what is he and his friend doing all the way out here? Then again, it may not be Harry, but that boy looked very similar!"

The man had no time to continue thinking about the black haired boy. He needed to make it to work, so he drove away, having decided to speak to his family about it later tonight. Meanwhile, Harry and Hailey made it to a junction in the road, one going southeast, and the other going southwest.

"Maybe we can try the southwest bound road." said Hailey.

"Yeah, let's try that one," said Harry. "We can always back track and take the other road if we run into someone or something suspicious looking!"

So he and Hailey took the southwest bound road. They were unaware that the southwest bound road actually led to a very long driveway, that was until they came across a sign that said: _The Burrow_. This made them stop when they realized that they took the wrong road. When they also walked up the long driveway, they saw that the Burrow was a house going up seven levels vertically. Luckily, they weren't close enough to be noticed by the Burrow's occupants, but close enough to see the house. Neither of the runaways had any knowledge that this was the red-haired man's house.

"That's odd," said Harry, looking at the house curiously. "I'm surprised that the house hasn't collapsed, seeing that it's too uneven!"

"Perhaps magic is keeping it up like that!" guessed Hailey.

"Yeah, it more than likely is," said Harry. "There's even a garage over there."

Harry pointed to what looked alot like a garage. Harry and Hailey were unaware that they had been spotted. A girl who looked no older than eight, with flaming-red hair was spying on the two kids standing by the sign that said _The Burrow_. She had good hiding skills, and thus used that to her advantage to spy on the two kids from within the trees near the Burrow.

'That boy has black hair,' thought the red-haired girl. 'He seems to resemble Harry Potter! Maybe he really is Harry Potter, seeing that black hair being untidy!'

The red-haired girl started walking slowly toward the kids, hoping she could introduce herself to them, and ask the black-haired boy if he was really Harry Potter. Unfortunately, she stepped on a twig, making it snap in half and causing the two kids to perk up and go on full alert.

"What was that?" asked Hailey.

"I don't know," said Harry. "Something must've caused a twig to snap or something."

"We'd better leave and backtrack," said Hailey. "Otherwise, we could get caught!"

"You're right, let's get outta here!" said Harry.

So he and Hailey turned around and ran off as fast as possible, backtracking to the junction, unknowingly making the red-haired girl downhearted.

'I should've paid attention to what I've stepped on,' thought the red-haired girl sadly. 'Now, I won't find out if the black-haired boy really _is_ Harry Potter!'

So the girl walked back to the front yard of the Burrow, where her brother and a friend were waiting for her to return.

"Ginny, where were you?" asked the red-haired boy.

"I was just in the trees," said the girl named Ginny. "I saw a couple of kids over by the sign that identified our house!"

"Really," asked the girl, who had brown, bushy hair, and she was skeptical. "What did they look like?"

"One of them was a girl, who had light brown hair," said Ginny. "And the other was a boy with black hair that was untidy. I think he was Harry Potter!"

"Oh come on, Ginny," said the girl with brown, bushy hair. "Harry couldn't possibly be out here, without any adults watching him at least."

"But Hermione, I know what I saw!" Ginny whined.

"But you don't have any proof, Ginny," said the girl named Hermione, who turned to the boy who was Ginny's brother. "Hey Ron, what do you think your mum will make for lunch?"

"I'm not sure, Hermione," said the boy named Ron. "Let's go inside and ask!"

So the kids named Ron and Hermione got up and went inside, while Ginny stayed where she was.

'I'm pretty sure that was Harry,' thought Ginny. 'I don't see why he and his friend just ran off like that. I wasn't going to hurt them.'

So she walked toward the garage, with her head down in low spirits. Meanwhile, Harry and Hailey made it back to the junction and took the other road. They discarded their respective backpacks and got out some water, in order to stay hydrated.

"That was a close one!" said Hailey with relief in her voice.

"Yeah," said Harry. "I'd hate to think what might've happened if we got caught."

"It's better to be safe than sorry," said Hailey. "Even though an animal could've been the cause of that twig snapping."

"Yeah, we were just being careful," said Harry. "I am proud that we've gotten through around about a day and a half!"

"Me, too," said Hailey, feeling proud of herself. "I couldn't have felt any more alive!"

"The best feeling I've had, for the first time!" said Harry ecstatically.

Soon, the two runaways finished their water and continued their journey.

(An hour later, back at the Burrow)

Ginny walked inside, while Ron and Hermione went swimming in a pond about fifty yards from the front yard. Ginny couldn't stop thinking about the boy she believed was Harry. She didn't get a good look at him, due to hiding in the trees. Ginny's mother saw the look of sorrow on her daughter's face as she walked inside.

"Ginny, sweetie, what's wrong?" asked her mother as she hugged her for comfort.

"Well," Ginny began explaining. "I was hiding in the trees a little while ago and I saw a couple kids by the sign that identified our house. One of them had black hair that was untidy. I think it was Harry Potter."

"What would Harry be doing all the way out here?" asked Ginny's mother.

"That's what I thought," said Ginny. "His friend accompanying him was a girl who had light brown hair. I tried approaching them slowly, but I accidentally stepped on a twig, making it snap. It caused the kids to perk up cautiously and almost immediately, they turned around and ran away."

"Why didn't you tell me?" asked Ginny's mother.

"I wasn't sure if you would believe me," said Ginny. "I told Ron and Hermione, but they just shrugged it off, as if I was thinking things."

"Well," said Ginny's mother. "They're more than likely long gone by now. Since your father has the day off tomorrow, we'll talk about it more. Maybe he can think of something, okay?"

"Okay, mum!" said Ginny, with her spirits rising somewhat.

"Now, how about joining Ron and Hermione for a swim?" asked Ginny's mother.

"Well, okay," said Ginny. "Maybe I can distract myself from what I saw, in the meantime."

Ginny went to change into her swimsuit, walked back outside and proceeded to join Ron and Hermione swimming in the pond.

(90 more minutes later)

Harry and Hailey were some miles from Ottery St. Catchpole. They had put another indeterminate amount of distance behind them when they came across another junction in the road, one went west, and the other south.

"Maybe we can try the westbound road." said Hailey.

"Yeah, let's try it," said Harry. "If we run into any possible trouble, we can always turn around and take the other road."

So the two runaways took the westbound road, that went on for 400 yards. The road abruptly ended, and a cylinderic black building was about a hundred feet away from their standing spot, with a stream near the base of it.

"I wonder if this was once a castle that was destroyed a long time ago!" said Harry.

"Maybe," guessed Hailey. "But I don't see any sign around identifying it as such."

"It's possible that it was forgotten," said Harry. "To the point where they..."

"Hello, Harry Potter!" said a dreamy voice coming from behind them.

This made Harry and Hailey jump. Then they turned around and saw a girl of about seven or eight with dirty-blonde hair, pale-silvery eyes and pale-white skin.

'Krud,' thought Harry, getting anxious. 'We've been caught!'

"S-Sorry, w-we took a wrong t-turn," said Hailey. "W-We didn't realize th-that this was your house!"

"Y-Yeah, navigational error," said Harry. "W-We best be going!"

Before the blonde haired girl could respond, Harry and Hailey ran away back the way they came. This confused the blonde haired girl, who thought that the two kids she just saw needed friends.

'I hope they come back,' thought the girl. 'They just needed some friends and maybe a loving family, from the looks of their reaction!'

Harry and Hailey were running as fast as they could, not knowing if the blonde haired girl would tell anybody or not. Once they felt that they were far away, Harry and Hailey slowed down and began walking to catch their breath.

"That's two people who've spotted us." said Harry.

"Yeah, first it was that red-haired man," said Hailey as she brought out a journal and jotted down the descriptions of those who have spotted them. "We'll need to be suspicious of those two!"

"Yeah, they could tell the wrong person," said Harry. "Those two we'd better keep our distance from! But I do wonder how that blonde girl knew it was me, in spite of having my scar hidden."

"I have no idea," said Hailey. "Maybe she was only guessing, and she happened to find out that she may have been right!"

"Yeah, that's possible," said Harry. "We'll also need to stay away from any building resembling a house!"

"Yeah," agreed Hailey. "But some witches and wizards live in manors, so we'll need to be wary of those, too!"

Then the two runaways found another area to stop and have lunch. They knew that they couldn't be too careful, especially with the blonde girl having somehow found out who Harry was. The two were still unaware that the aforementioned Ginny had also spotted them. Yep, there were still bound to be surprises during the course of their journey.

 _To be continued!_

 **Author's note: Well, the Weasleys and Hermione have somewhat been identified. But Harry and Hailey still have a long way to go. As mentioned before, they will encounter some run-ins (either directly or indirectly) with a number of other canon characters, but the indirect run-ins will be a bit more common. Since Harry and Hailey won't trust anybody easily, they will run away as fast as they can, though those moments usually will have kids around their age who'll notice first and they try to tell an adult, but Harry and Hailey will be long gone by then.**


	5. Chapter 5

_Disclaimer: As usual, J.K. Rowling owns the Harry Potter series. I just own this story, and my OC. No copyright intended!_

Ch. 5

Follow The Wavy Blue River

After lunch, the two deserters continued walking through the trees, and came upon a river. It was called _River_ _Otter_ , as mentioned on the sign. Harry and Hailey realized that this was the very river they crossed shortly before coming across the Burrow. They followed it, which was leading them south. Harry and Hailey realized that following a river was not only fun, but was also useful when it came to looking for shortcuts (especially on weekdays, when school hours would be in session). They knew a couple of kids wandering around on their own, especially during school hours would attract attention that they couldn't afford.

(Back at the Burrow)

The aforementioned Ginny, Ron and Hermione had just finished lunch and went up to the orchard nearby. Ginny still couldn't stop thinking about the boy she believed was Harry. She also wondered who that girl who was accompanying him was. Ginny thought about sneaking off to look for those kids, but it wasn't worth the risk. She knew how much trouble she'd get in because her mother finding out about her running off would've been inevitable. And besides, the two kids were likely long gone by now, especially when they got spooked by the twig snapping, which subsequently made them run off.

(Meanwhile, at Hogwarts)

Albus was stumped, he couldn't understand how Harry disappeared without even a trace. Surely the Dursleys couldn't be as bad as Minerva said. It was necessary for the Greater Good. Minerva and Severus were getting exhausted from their second futile attempt to locate Harry. Albus called a meeting with some other wizards and witches to discuss some possible areas where Harry could've ended up, unaware that two red-haired boys (who were twins) and a dark-skin boy with dreadlocks were eavesdropping in on the conversation.

"Fred! George! What do you think might've made Harry disappear?" asked the dark-skin boy.

"I'm not sure, Lee," said one of the twins. "It could be any number of reasons!"

"Yeah," said the other twin. "I do hope he's okay!"

So the three first years sneaked away. They didn't want to risk getting caught eavesdropping. So they went to continue with what they had planned before finding out about Harry's disappearance.

Meanwhile, Harry and Hailey kept on following River Otter south. They came across a bridge that the river flowed under. Harry and Hailey opted to walked under the bridge, seeing some vehicles driving over the bridge, and any one of the drivers could ask them questions that neither of the runaways wanted to answer. They managed to walk another five miles when they unknowingly stumbled across a manor. One of the manor's occupants, a girl with red hair about Harry and Hailey's age, was splashing some of the river water onto her best friend, who had blonde hair in pigtails. Harry and Hailey spotted the girls and tried sneaking over the river, to the other side. The blonde haired girl was the first to notice.

"Hey Susan, look over there!" said the blonde hair girl, getting her best friend's attention by tapping her shoulder and pointing over to the two kids on the other side of the river. "What are they doing out here?"

"Beats me, Hannah," said the girl named Susan. "They just seem to be out exploring!"

"Perhaps," said the girl named Hannah. "But that boy with the black hair looks suspicious!"

"Yeah, he does," said Susan. "He does look like Harry Potter!"

"Yeah, especially with his black hair all untidy and what not." said Hannah.

"Yeah, it could very well be Harry," said Susan. "Maybe we shall inform auntie!"

"Yeah, let's," agreed Hannah. "The sooner she knows, the better!"

So Susan and Hannah walked back inside to inform Susan's aunt who they think they've spotted. Neither Susan nor Hannah were aware that Harry and Hailey were extremely skilled in slipping away. Susan and Hannah made it inside and over to where Susan's aunt was working on some paperwork.

"Auntie Amelia?" said Susan.

"Yes, Susan," said her aunt Amelia. "Do you and Hannah need something?"

"No," said Susan. "We came in because we spotted two kids on the other side of the river!"

"What did they look like?" asked Amelia.

"One of them was a girl with light-brown hair," said Susan. "And the other was a boy with raven-coloured hair that was untidy!"

"Huh," said Amelia, who was thinking it could've been Harry. "Did this boy have the scar?"

"Not that Hannah and I were aware of," said Susan. "They were too far for us to even notice!"

"They were following the river south," said Hannah. "We weren't exactly sure if they were hitch-hiking, or if they were just out exploring!"

"Do you think we could go find them?" asked Susan.

"Well, I want to say yes," said Amelia. "But, we don't have any proof that that's Harry! They're likely long gone, too. If they do walk by again, do come and get me, okay?"

"Yes, auntie!" said Susan.

"I am proud of you two," said Amelia, praising Susan and Hannah. "For informing me what all was going on. Thank you!"

"You're welcome, auntie!" said Susan.

"I'm glad I could help!" said Hannah.

(An hour or so later)

Harry and Hailey managed to reach the end of River Otter, which emptied into a body of water, which Hailey recognized as the English Channel. They had reached the east end of a small town called _Budleigh Salterton_. They saw that they were put in a quandary. They looked over the beach nearby, which had what looked like hundreds of visitors either sunbathing, swimming in the water, or any number of outdoor activity.

"How are we gonna make it to the west end?" asked Harry.

"The police might be able to find us and ask us questions," said Hailey. "We can't let anybody know that we're runaways!

"Yeah," said Harry. "And it won't be easy!"

The two decided to wait a little bit, to think of any solutions that might work. True to Harry's prediction, it was going be a hard one.

(Back at the Burrow)

Ginny was out playing in the orchard with a friend, who happened to be the aforementioned girl with dirty blonde hair and pale silvery eyes. She could tell Ginny kept getting lost in thought, and then snapping back to reality, repeatedly.

"Ginny, what is it?" asked the girl with dirty blonde hair.

"Oh, just what happened this morning," said Ginny. "A couple kids were standing by the sign, while looking at my house. One of them was a girl with light-brown hair, and the other was a boy with untidy black hair. I think he was Harry Potter, Luna!"

"I saw them, too," said the girl named Luna. "I even greeted them, but they just turned around and ran away before I could get daddy to see for himself!"

"Wow, I never would've guessed it," said Ginny. "They never saw me, but I seemed to have spooked them into running away when I accidentally stepped on a stick!"

"I do hope they get found soon," said Luna. "My guess on their behaviour was that they seemed to be a couple of kids who just want a loving family!"

"I do hope that black haired boy _is_ Harry, after all," said Ginny. "Perhaps mum and dad can take him under our wing. I do wonder why Harry must've been accompanied by a girl!"

"Maybe she came from a family who never loved her," guessed Luna. "And like Harry, she got tired of it and decided to run away with Harry!"

"Yeah, perhaps," said Ginny. "We just need enough proof, that's all!"

"I agree!" said Luna.

(Back at Harry and Hailey's waiting spot close by Budleigh Salterton)

Harry and Hailey spent like forty-five minutes thinking over how they were gonna slip past the city undetected by the police.

"I guess the only way is to go around it," Harry deduced. "It's the only real option."

"Yeah, we don't have any other choice." said Hailey.

So the two runaways turned around and backtracked a bit. They came up to a bridge that had a farm road over it. They climbed up and continued over the bridge, continuing west in the process. They crossed over the nearby road, and spotted the north end of Budleigh Salterton, and continued west, jogging across some farmland. Even though they knew it was a risky thing to do, they didn't see any other way around. They just had to hope they didn't get spotted. They would stop for a few seconds every now and then, to make sure the coast was clear. Luckily it was, so the runaways resumed their journey. They reached a street called _Bear Lane_ when they heard a vehicle approaching the intersection, forcing the kids to hide in the small bunch of trees nearby. To Harry and Hailey's horror, it was a police car (that had two officers inside) and it's lights on top were flashing. Harry and Hailey crouched to make themselves less visible. Luckily the police car drove away, making the runaways breathe a sigh of relief.

"Man, I thought we were gonna be toast." whispered Harry.

"Yeah, no kidding," whispered Hailey. "At least those officers didn't spot us!"

The two shuddered at the thought of another officer spotting them. They remembered when that one in Surrey asked them what they were doing. Harry and Hailey were lucky that that officer bought their story and drove away, and they couldn't risk another one of those incidents happening, since some officers weren't fooled easily.

"We'd better get outta here, fast," said Harry. "That police car could make it's way back here!"

"You're right, we'd better!" said Hailey.

So they continued jogging down the road, hoping to look for a bigger bunch of trees to set up camp for the evening, as it was getting dark. Harry checked his watch and saw it was 6:00 PM. Harry and Hailey were also forced to jog through the backyards of a few houses, hoping they wouldn't be noticed. So far, so good, but they managed to make it to a three-way. They took the road called _Salterton Road_ and walked a little before walking into the trees some and setting up camp.

(Back at Hogwarts)

Albus wasn't in a good mood, as they still couldn't find Harry. So he skipped dinner and stayed in his office. How could his well thought-out plans just crumble beneath his very feet? Everything needed to go according to his plan, it was all for the Greater Good. Minerva also called it a night early, exhausted from her worthless efforts in helping. Severus just started wondering why a child would just run away, without any indication as to where he could be headed. Surely, Potter was just like his father, spoiled, doted on, and given everything he wanted. Something just didn't add up, leaving Severus confused.

 _To be continued!_

 **Author's note 1: The title of this chapter was a reference to 'Follow the yellow brick road' from The Wizard of Oz. Seeing how Harry and Hailey agreed to follow the wavy blue river, I thought it'd be interesting to make a movie reference.**

 **Author's note 2: Well, Susan, Hannah, Amelia and Luna have also been somewhat identified, as did Fred, George and Lee. Are Harry and Hailey going to continue slipping through everybody's fingers like grains of sand, or will they get caught and taken back to their relatives, or an orphanage? Stay tuned to find out more!**


	6. Chapter 6

_Disclaimer: As mentioned before, I don't own the series, J.K. Rowling does. I just own this fanfic and OC. No copyright intended!_

Ch. 6

The Turmoil Gets Worse

It was Monday and all too soon, the students of St. Grogery's Primary School were filing in, to make it to their respective classrooms. Dudley and his gang were on a warpath, they were going to beat up any student who might've secretly talked 'the freak' into disappearing into thin air. The librarian was going through some papers when she saw what appeared to be folded up notes. She unfolded the first one, which was from Harry, and it read:

 _Ms. Zimmers,_

 _I'd like to thank you for your trust and being friendly, despite what many others think about me. Hailey and I have left for the sake of our sanity, since it became obvious that we're generally unwanted anywhere else._

 _From,_

 _Harry_

Ms. Zimmers opened the other note, from Hailey, which read:

 _Thank you for your trust and friendliness, Ms. Zimmers. Seeing how Harry and I were unwanted, we decided to leave and find a true purpose in life. Take care._

 _From,_

 _Hailey_

Ms. Zimmers was shocked once she realized that Harry and Hailey, the two students who helped her out in the library, had run away to who-knows-where. She occasionally heard Dudley and his gang bragging about 'punishing' Harry, who they referred to as 'the freak.' How could the teachers, let alone the headmistress just ignore this? It always seemed like every time Dudley and his friends got sent to the headmistress, they got off scott-free somehow.

(Meanwhile, back in the trees near Budleigh Salterton)

Harry and Hailey had finished their breakfast, then they packed up their tent, but not before Hailey applied make-up over Harry's scar. Then they put their respective backpacks on and resumed their journey. Harry and Hailey opted to stay in the trees as much as possible, knowing that a couple children wandering around during school hours was bound to attract unwanted attention, even though some were home-schooled, but neither Harry nor Hailey wanted to take that risk. Harry and Hailey knew that crossing streets was bound to be necessary, and decided that when that time came, they had to be quick, so they wouldn't get spotted, especially by police officers.

After approximately half an hour of walking through the trees, they came across another road, revealed to be called _Castle Lane_. They couldn't spot any other bunch of trees nearby, so they reluctantly decided to follow the road going southwest. Then they reached an intersection and decided to follow the road northwest, seeing it had trees nearby, which could be used for hiding should any police car come driving by.

(Meanwhile, at the Burrow)

The driver of the Ford Anglia who had red hair, was in the living room with his wife, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Luna. Ron and Ginny's parents were talking to a man with shoulder-length blonde hair.

"Xenophilius," said the red hair man. "Did you ever see a couple kids wandering around yesterday?"

"No, but Luna said that she did," said the man named Xenophilius. "She even said that she greeted one of them, who she thinks is Harry Potter."

"He was even accompanied by a girl with light-brown hair, daddy," Luna informed her father. "I couldn't understand why they would just run off!"

"It's not your fault, Luna," assured Xenophilius. "It was just inconvenient timing on my part!"

"I also saw them," said Ginny. "They never spotted me, all because I accidentally stepped on a stick, which seemed to have spooked them into running away!"

"Are they still anywhere nearby?" wondered Hermione.

"I'm not entirely sure," said Ron and Ginny's mother. "Arthur, do you think we could try to find them?"

"I hope so, Molly," said the man named Arthur. "But, they could be anywhere by now!"

"What if what Luna says turns out to be true?" asked the woman named Molly. "Maybe Albus might let us take Harry in."

"That'd be wonderful!" said Ginny ecstatically.

"But don't get your hopes up too high, Ginny," said Arthur. "Trying to find two possibly runaway children out there anywhere is like trying to find a needle in a haystack!"

"What about that girl who was accompanying the kid who could possibly be Harry?" asked Luna. "It seems like she might've had a terrible life!"

"I'm not sure, Luna," Xenophilius told his daughter. "Even if we did find them, and the kid with black hair happens to be Harry after all, we can't take them in just like that!"

"Shall we go drive around and see if we can spot them?" asked Ron.

"Yeah, we might as well," Arthur told his son. "Maybe we can try to help them in any way possible!"

So Arthur and Xenophilius got into the Ford Anglia, in the front while Ron and Hermione got in the back. Molly, Ginny and Luna opted to stay behind, just in case if the two kids found their way back to the Burrow.

(An hour later)

Harry and Hailey were walking by, next to the road called _B3179_ that was going northwest. They had a couple of close calls where they spotted police cars, but luckily they were hidden well within the trees. They waited a few more minutes, to make sure that second police car didn't drive by again. Once they were certain, Harry and Hailey emerged from the hiding spot and resumed their journey. After another hour and a half or so, they reached a village called _Woodbury_ , the east entrance/exit.

"Maybe we should try going around," said Harry. "Most kids are still in school!"

"Yeah," agreed Hailey. "We've already had two close encounters with police cars!"

"Maybe we can find another river, too," suggested Harry. "It'd be safer that way!"

"The water can feel refreshing on a hot day," said Hailey. "Once it gets cold, we'll need to stay out of the water and walk alongside of it, unless there's no other option but to cross it."

"Too true," said Harry. "If we were to get cold, that could be trouble, especially if we get too sick or injured to the point where a hospital visit is required, that'd be huge trouble for us!"

Harry and Hailey shuddered at the thought of getting spotted, and that meant that they'd have to return to their so-called relatives, and they had no intentions to go back and live in the past. So they tried to go around the city limits, only to find that the fences around the fields had signs on them saying _Private Property, No Trespassing_.

"Krud!" exclaimed Hailey. "How are we gonna pull this one off?"

"This one _is_ gonna be harder than we thought!" said Harry. "I guess we'll need to take the risk of going through."

"Yeah, it looks like it," said Hailey reluctantly. "Maybe we ought to keep our heads down and eyes on the ground, so we won't look suspicious!"

"It's worth a try," said Harry. "We will need to do this as fast as possible."

So the two runaways began their uneasy task of walking through the town. To them, it was going to seem like an eternity to make it to the other end of town, without attracting unwanted attention.

(Back at St. Grogery's Primary School)

Ms. Zimmers showed the farewell notes to the headmistress, who couldn't believe what was written on them. Dudley's father, Vernon always claimed that Dudley and his friends' behaviour was an exaggeration, and would bribe her to drop the subject. Seeing the farewell notes Harry and Hailey wrote meant that their miserable lives weren't an exaggeration after all. Once it was lunch time, all of the students in year 5 had to go to the headmistress's office.

The students mentioned how they tried to approach Harry, Dudley and his gang always scared them away, claiming that Harry didn't deserve any friends. Some even stated how Dudley's friends always made sure they were there when Dudley would beat Harry up, so he wouldn't fight back or try to run away from them and avoid beatings. Some of Harry's classmates also revealed that Dudley and Piers would just poke Harry, pinch him, or cause any other irritation they could come up with.

The headmistress remembered several teachers have tried to help Harry, but Vernon (and on some occasions, Petunia) would bribe her to keep quiet, and to put those particular teachers on a blacklist. Now, the headmistress ended up getting a pang of conscience, feeling remorse for accepting the bribes. Teachers and other school officials were, after all supposed to look for signs of child abuse, and they were trained to do so, and Harry was definitely one of those students who showed the signs of child abuse. They knew that Hailey Brandwood came from a home where her father was an alcoholic. A few students even mentioned how Hailey tried to help Harry's super-skinny frame by sharing some of her food at lunchtime, making sure neither Dudley, nor his gang were aware. The students also came to realize too late that they outnumbered Dudley and his gang, and that they were much smarter than the bullies.

Once the truth, the _real_ truth was revealed, Dudley and his gang were sent to the headmistress's office, to await their fate. Dudley threw a nasty temper tantrum, hoping that the headmistress would be bribed to call it off, forseeably to no avail. Dudley and his gang's reign of terror was coming to an end. Vernon and Petunia were called to come to the school, and once they were told what was happening, Vernon tried bribing the headmistress, but this time she refused, also saying that Dudley was the true troublemaker, with help from Piers, Dennis, Malcolm and Gordon. Vernon and Petunia refused to acknowledge it, making up lies that 'the freak' put them up to it. They even refused to accept that 'the freak' ran away, claiming it was all a scheme to look for attention and pity. The headmistress no longer bought the lies and subsequently declared Dudley expelled, much to Vernon's anger.

(Line break)

Arthur, Xenophilius, Ron and Hermione made it back to the Burrow after realizing that their efforts and attempts to continue the search became futile. Molly saw the look of despair on their faces and knew exactly why they had the look.

"Nothing, it was hopeless!" Arthur told his wife.

"They must've been very skilled in slipping by undetected after all!" Molly deduced.

"I think that's likely," Arthur agreed. "That especially made the search futile."

"Yeah," said Molly. "As I mentioned earlier, those two kids could be anywhere!"

"Even if my mum and dad helped, it still wouldn't have worked?" asked Hermione.

"Yeah, more than likely," said Arthur. "I'm surprised with their skills to slip by without catching any attention!"

"Will they ever come back this way?" asked Ginny.

"It's possible, Ginny," said Molly. "But it seems unlikely. Who knows where their final destination could be!"

"Amelia did mention something yesterday," Arthur revealed. "She was told by her niece, Susan and her best friend, Hannah that they spotted two kids yesterday, who looked exactly like the ones who Ginny and Luna saw."

"So there is hope yet!" said Ginny, whose spirits were rising somewhat.

"Maybe," said Molly. "But, as your father said, those two kids are a slippery kind. In fact, I don't think they even left any clues to their next whereabouts."

"Maybe the hope will increase if we don't expect it?" wondered Ginny.

"Probably," said Arthur. "It does seem like if you're least expecting something, then it shows up. Maybe if we do comply with that phrase, maybe those kids might come back this way."

So they all decided to put all that in the back of their minds, hoping that if they didn't expect it, then they'd see the kids who Ginny and Luna saw. They all knew it wouldn't be easy, but it was worth a try.

(Line break)

Harry and Hailey had, somehow managed to slip through Woodbury, narrowly avoiding any encounters with police officers. They made it to a smaller town called _Ebford_ and were walking by a street called Topsham road, which led to a bridge to another town called Topsham. They spotted a river, and like another miracle, Harry and Hailey slid down a hillside once they got closer to the bridge. According to a nearby sign, Harry and Hailey were right by _River Clyst_.

"Perhaps we should follow it upstream." said Harry.

"I agree," said Hailey. "That way our chances of getting spotted are greatly reduced."

So the runaways started following the river north. Something told them that following this river would be longer than following the Otter River south. Still, what was wrong with seeing the sites? It could help them discover some new routes to throw anybody off track.

 _To be continued!_

 **Author's note: Now Arthur, Molly and Xenophilius have been somewhat identified. Word about Harry and Hailey's disappearance is leaking out. What else will end up happening to Vernon, Petunia, Dudley and Dudley's gang? Will Harry and Hailey eventually run out of good luck? If they do, will they get taken to an orphanage? Or will somebody in the wizarding world spot the runaways first? Or will Harry and Hailey slip away once more? Stay tuned for the next chapter to find out!**


	7. Chapter 7

_Disclaimer: As usually mentioned, J.K. Rowling is the owner of the Harry Potter world. I just own this story and OC Hailey. No copyright intended!_

Ch. 7

An Unknown Helper

Harry and Hailey started walking upstream alongside River Clyst, heading north. Neither one were aware that somebody was watching them from thirty yards away. This unidentified man was smiling as the two kids continued upstream.

'It looks like they've found my tent,' thought the man. 'I hope they find the happiness that they're searching for!'

"Good luck to you, Mr. Potter," said the unidentified man. "And good luck to your friend, too!"

Upon finishing, the man suddenly disappeared, which meant that he was a wizard. As Harry and Hailey continued walking upstream alongside the river, they saw that sometimes, the direction of the river would change. They concluded that it was like a snake-like river of some sort. They didn't see any houses or manors close to the river shoreline, which was a relief to them.

(Meanwhile, back at Privet Drive)

Vernon and Petunia had never been this angry at the 'freak,' and Dudley had never had a bad day like this before. The 'freak' was his favourite target, and beating up any other kids didn't really feel the same. Piers, Dennis, Malcolm and Gordon were also expelled from St. Grogery's after the countless number of kids mentioned that they helped Dudley with beating Harry up relentlessly. Vernon blamed the 'freak' for their karma coming back to bite at them. Vernon was also demoted from director to staff supervisor, with his supervisor becoming the new director, Petunia couldn't talk to anybody because they found out about the lies they were told about Harry, and Dudley couldn't threaten anybody anymore, because they found out that they could easily outrun him.

To make matters worse (to them at least), Aunt Petunia couldn't find any high-paying jobs, so they could only use utilities sparingly. Vernon and Dudley also couldn't eat as much food as they wanted. Harry's sitter, Mrs. Figg was surprised that Harry still hadn't been found, and she began asking herself questions whether Albus knew exactly what he was doing when he placed Harry with the Dursleys. She was slowly beginning to lose respect for Albus, since he never bothered to check on Harry from time to time, since he claimed it was all for the Greater Good.

(Line Break)

Five days have passed and Vernon still didn't have the luck of getting his director position back, nor could Vernon bribe the CEO into giving it back to him. It turned out that the Dursleys treatment had made the headlines in the local newspapers. The St. Grogery's Primary School librarian, Ms. Zimmers explained to the police about Harry and Hailey actually being a help to her. The farewell notes was pretty much a wake-up call to the previous lives the two kids lived. The unidentified man who wished Harry and Hailey good luck was also helping out by going undercover, to get all the necessary information, so he could continue to give the Dursleys a taste of their own medicine.

(Meanwhile, back at Hogwarts)

Albus had never been in a blood-boiling temper like this one before. His plans weren't supposed to happen this way. How could Harry still slip by undetected? Surely, the Dursleys weren't that bad. Minerva had to be exaggerating with her explanations about how awful they were. Albus was unaware that all of his plans were already starting to crumble beneath his very feet. In fact, Albus refused to acknowledge the whole ordeal any time Minerva would give him an 'I-told-you-so' look, since otherwise Harry wouldn't have ran away in the first place if he was treated like a member of the family. Severus was in a quandary, as he wasn't entirely sure if Potter had been abused, though it seemed like that was reality.

(Line Break)

It was around noon on Saturday, and Harry and Hailey had found that the river continued getting smaller as they continued following upstream. This resulted in the two getting a bit of an inner panic.

"The river is getting smaller," said Harry. "It's like it's not even a river anymore, but a creek!"

"Yeah," agreed Hailey. "At least we're still within the trees that are along the river, or creek as it seems to become."

"I do wonder where the source will be!" said Harry.

"As long as we continue upstream, we'll find out!" said Hailey.

So they continued for an indefinite amount of time, and they eventually reached the end, which was right by a small town.

"Dang, we've reached the source," said Harry. "But it doesn't look like much!"

"Maybe we can look for another river," said Hailey. "Since it's Saturday, we don't have to worry too much about unwanted attention, as long we stay away from any police car."

"Hopefully, our so-called relatives are reaping what they've sown." said Harry.

"Me, too," said Hailey. "Maybe there's another river nearby. Perhaps if we go east a little, we might find one."

"Yeah, let's give it a try." said Harry.

So the two runaways started walking east a little bit, being careful when crossing streets. They also ran as fast as possible when crossing wide open fields. Luckily, they didn't have to worry about hopping fences, as that could also attract unwanted attention. Harry and Hailey managed to find another river called _River Tale_. They opted to follow that river upstream as well. Even this river didn't last long enough, putting Harry and Hailey in another quandary.

"There's some more trees over there," said Harry, pointing to a bigger bunch of trees, about thirty feet or so north of their position. "Shall we make a beeline for them?"

"We might as well," said Hailey. "But we'll need to be fast if we're to avoid getting spotted."

So they did just that. Then they waited a few minutes, just to make sure that they weren't spotted. Then they walked through the trees and found some more open field, so they continued on, opting to head north.

(Line break)

Meanwhile, at a certain prison somewhere out in the middle of the North Sea, a man with shaggy shoulder-length black hair in a maximum security cell, was sitting there. He appeared to be all sane for some reason. This prisoner glared at the passing form of the minister of magic.

"Minister," said the prisoner with shaggy shoulder-length black hair. "Do you have a copy of the Daily Prophet? I enjoy doing the crosswords!"

The minister of magic just tossed the newspaper into the cell. The man in the cell picked it up, looking for any crosswords. His eyes widened when he saw a lost child article, so he started reading that particular article, which said:

 **Missing Child: Harry Potter**

 _Harry James Potter, son of the late James Charlus Potter and Lily J. Potter, disappeared sometime between late September or early October. Some Rumours speculate that he ran away from his relatives, and some speculate that his relatives may have dumped him out in the middle of nowhere. Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, who is the chief warlock of the Wizengamot, Supreme Leader of the ICW, and headmaster of Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry, denied these rumours, claiming that it was all a misdirection and that the wizarding community was just overreacting. If anybody has any information, notify the Ministry of Magic immediately._

The man was shocked when he read that article, his best friend's son had disappeared for some unknown reason. All the questions that started popping up made the prisoner really suspicious, and he didn't like what his gut instinct was telling him.

'Harry, he needs me,' thought the man desperately. 'Don't worry, pup! I'll come find you first chance I get, and we'll be a family!'

Having made the vow, the man started the first part of his plan by refusing to eat, so he could get thin enough to slip through the bars of his cell door. This part wouldn't be an easy task, but if he wanted to reunite with Harry that bad, then he needed to do anything possible (even if it meant that Harry would be hard to find). After all, the prisoner knew that family was supposed to look out for one another.

(Meanwhile, at the Burrow)

Ginny was laying on her bed, on her stomach. She'd been trying her best, but couldn't forget about the boy who she believed was Harry. That feeling kept making her stomach cramp painfully. Arthur informed all of them about the article mentioning Harry missing in the Daily Prophet.

"Albus claiming all of this being a misdirection?" said Molly, outraged. "Surely he can't be serious!"

"I have no clue what he's thinking," said Arthur. "From what Amelia told me, somebody spoke with the head of the Daily Prophet earlier today. They didn't ask the visitor who he was, as he just stated that it was personal business."

"So, this mysterious person," said Molly. "Is he possibly helping Harry out, if that boy who Ginny spotted was him?"

"Possibly," said Arthur. "This mysterious helper isn't easy to run into, as he tends to show up when it's least expected."

"I do hope this strange person knows exactly what he's doing," said Molly. "Albus is bound to find out who this helper is, even if it means demanding it."

"Yeah, maybe," said Arthur. "But, if Harry was placed with his relatives and eventually ran away, then..."

"Then what, Arthur?" asked Molly.

"Then... his relatives..." said Arthur as something in his brain clicked. "His relatives... must've b-been... abusing him to the ex-extreme!"

"Oh, Merlin!" gasped Molly as she covered her mouth in disbelief.

"Too bad there isn't any proof," said Arthur. "Gut instincts aren't sufficient enough in court."

"Yeah, you're right, Arthur," agreed Molly. "If Harry and his friend ever manage to come back this way, we'll need to try to help them in any way possible."

"Of course," said Arthur. "Although, more than likely, they won't trust anyone but themselves that easily, so trying to help them won't be any easy task."

"Yeah, but we need to try," said Molly. "Their luck could run out any time."

(Line break)

It was around 5:00 PM, when Harry and Hailey decided to set the tent up. Then they walked in to relax. Around an hour later, Harry spotted Hailey getting some kind of record player out.

"Hailey, what are you doing?" asked Harry.

"Just thought of putting some music on," said Hailey. "My mum and I would often dance to some classical music. It was one way of relieving stress, but my father refused to join us, and when my mum died, my father immediately forbade me from dancing ever again."

"The Dursleys would never pay any money on me," said Harry. "A happy me always seemed to be their worst nightmare."

"I do wonder if they, along with my father have started getting their dues in time by now." said Hailey.

"Probably," said Harry. "They've been getting away with their actions for too long, so it's time for them to take responsibility and suffer the consequences."

"I agree," said Hailey as she finished getting the record player ready. "Want to dance with me?"

"I don't know how." said Harry sheepishly.

"Once you practice, you'll be good enough," assured Hailey. "You can just make up a dance as you go."

"Well..." said Harry, thinking it over.

"Please, for me?" said Hailey, giving Harry puppy-dog eyes.

"Okay," said Harry, who started laughing at the puppy-dog eyes Hailey gave him. "But, don't blame me if I accidentally step on your toes, and they start hurting."

"Oh, I think it will be worth it, Harry!" said Hailey.

So she began to teach Harry how to dance. A few times, Harry did accidentally step on her toes, and he immediately started apologizing, but Hailey assured Harry that he didn't need to worry about it. All too soon, they were so worn out that they called it a night and went to sleep. Hailey was right, dancing _was_ a great way to release all that stress. The two kids fell asleep quicker than they usually did.

Meanwhile, an indeterminate distance away, a shabby man in worn-out clothes, with light-brown hair turning gray, was in his shack reading a copy of the Daily Prophet when he noticed the article mentioning Harry Potter having gone missing. This shocked the man, as it made him wonder what may have happened to make Harry disappear. He thought about going out to look for Harry, but realized that not only was it too dark to do so, but trying to find Harry somewhere in England would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. The man opted to wait until sometime in the morning to look for Harry, so he went to sleep.

 _To be continued!_

 **Author's note 1: Well, Harry and Hailey do have somebody out there, helping them out, even though they are unaware of it. They also don't have any idea that there are more people trying to help them than they think. Will Harry and Hailey get spotted, or will they slip away once more? Stay tuned to find out more!**

 **Author's note 2: Supernova2015 gave me the idea of Vernon being demoted from his status as a director, with his supervisor getting promoted to Vernon's old position. Though, I figured Vernon should be a staff supervisor, so he could deal with some of the incompetent employees, which will be too much for him, but the main idea belongs to Supernova2015.**


	8. Chapter 8

_Disclaimer: As mentioned before, J.K. Rowling owns the Harry Potter universe, I just own this fanfic and OC Hailey. No copyright intended!_

Ch. 8

Aunt Marge's Moment Of Resolution

Two more weeks have passed and Harry and Hailey continued enjoying every second of their cross-country adventure. Albus Dumbledore's temper continued to worsen, to the point where he was easily irritable and would subsequently just stay in his office at Hogwarts, for everybody's sake. He still wouldn't understand how Harry would just run away, without any leads to his final destination, if he had one, that was. Minerva was stunned, wondering where Harry could be and how he slipped by undetected. Severus was thinking that maybe Harry wasn't like his father after all, but he had no way of knowing for sure.

Meanwhile, Harry and Hailey were passing through a county known as Wiltshire. They were dressed in winter clothes, since the cold days were already happening, due to it being mid October. It wasn't terribly cold, but Harry and Hailey knew that when the colder days got closer, they needed to spend more time in the tent, that way they wouldn't have to worry about catching a cold or something. Luckily, they found another river called _River Avon_ and they also opted to follow it upstream. It was around noon when they stopped for a lunch break.

"I wonder how far the next town could be." wondered Harry.

"I actually see one," said Hailey as she pointed in the direction. "Though I have no idea what the name of it is."

"Me neither," said Harry. "We'll find out once we get closer, just so long as we stay away from police officers."

"Or anybody in any uniform," said Hailey. "But anybody in general, we know we should be wary of."

"Yeah," said Harry. "I do wonder how much worse our relatives' lives have gotten since we ran away."

"Who knows," said Hailey. "It's our cross-country adventure that matters more!"

"Yeah," agreed Harry. "We won't let anybody ruin our lives, especially our new ones."

"Anybody who tries would also be, in a way ruining us." said Hailey.

So the two nine year olds finished their lunch and resumed their journey. They had no idea that they were eventually in for a nasty shock, one that could jeopardize their determination to not return to the past.

(Meanwhile, at the Burrow)

The aforementioned man in shabby clothes was visiting, having been asked by Molly and Arthur to talk with them. The man was walking up to the front door, then he knocked on the door, with Molly answering the door some seconds later.

"Ah, Remus," greeted Molly. "I'm glad you could make it."

"It's good to see you too, Molly," said the man named Remus. "I understand that you and Arthur called me here."

"Yes," Molly clarified as she held up a copy of the Daily Prophet. "We weren't sure if you've read the Daily Prophet explaining Harry's disappearance."

"I have, actually," said Remus. "It was a huge shock to me. I was wondering what could've made Harry disappear."

"Molly and I believe that Harry may have had a terrible life," Arthur speculated. "Ginny hasn't really left her room all that much ever since she spotted a boy who very closely resembled Harry."

"She thinks the boy _is_ Harry," said Molly. "She also saw a girl accompanying him that day, from what she told me."

"I also saw them," said Arthur. "It was hard to tell if that boy _was_ Harry. His forehead was covered by bangs, so we don't know if he had the scar."

"Harry possibly having a terrible life is something new to me," stated Remus. "Albus told me that Harry was living a good, normal and healthy life. In fact, he wouldn't tell me where Harry was, no matter how many times I asked, saying it was all for the Greater Good. Albus wouldn't even tell me what this Greater Good plan of his was."

"The other day," said Arthur. "Xenophilius and his daughter, Luna came by because Luna said that she also saw who she believed to be Harry, and the girl who was traveling with him."

"I see," said Remus. "Did you try to find them?"

"Yeah, but it was futile attempt," said Arthur. "It was like looking for a needle in a haystack."

"If that boy is Harry, I wonder how he and his friend have managed to slip through everybody's fingers like grains of sand." said Remus, surprised.

"Your guess is as good as ours," said Molly. "Hopefully Albus will realize his mistake soon because a child could end up seriously hurt, or worse, dead."

(Back at Little Whinging)

The Dursleys have never dealt with such a low wage before. Vernon tried bribing the owner of Grunnings for his director position back, to no avail. He was even angrier that he hadn't been able to 'teach the freak a lesson' in any way, shape or form for several weeks. Petunia was angry that they didn't have their slave to make them breakfast, tend the garden, do the laundry, etc... etc. Dudley and his gang hadn't been able to beat up any kid (the 'freak' especially), and they couldn't get reinstated at St. Grogery's Primary School. They couldn't beat up any kids because they knew that they could outrun the ruthless bullies. Vernon had just gotten off the phone with his sister Marge, with a grin.

"Well," Vernon informed his wife. "I told Marge what all was going on and she's agreed to keep a sharp eye out for the freak and that she'll notify us if she spots any boy who looks like the freak."

"He'll be in so much trouble he'll be in that cupboard for months," said Petunia. "Because of the freak, our lives have, and still continue to take a turn for the worse."

"He needs a serious beating," said Dudley. "He's also the reason my friends and I got expelled."

Not too far away, over on Eastwood Boulevard, Hailey's father was also angry, which was getting worse. How dare his daughter continue to stay away from home? Surely he taught her better than that. He continued drinking his whiskey to ensure that this would teach his daughter an ultimate lesson. The students at St. Grogery's Primary School were finally able to relax, now that Dudley and his friends were expelled, but Harry's and Hailey's respective teachers were still stumped, wondering what may have happened to them. Ms. Zimmers still couldn't get over the fact that Harry and Hailey ran away, especially without any leads as to where they could be headed. The headmistress had trouble getting over her guilt of accepting the bribes to keep Harry's abuse quiet. She hoped that they'd eventually return, since she couldn't accept that neither Harry nor Hailey had no intentions of coming back.

(Three Days Later)

Harry and Hailey were peacefully resuming their journey, continuing to follow River Avon upstream, which seemed to be paying off, that was until around 11:00 AM. That was when they had stumbled upon a house out in the country, which to Harry's horror, was the house of his uncle's sister. Marge spotted the 'brat' and his friend, causing the two kids to become frightened.

"Well, well," sneered Marge as she spotted her brother's nephew. "It looks as if a visitor decided to drop by."

She had gone to her front gate, where her mailbox was next to it. That was when she spotted the 'brat' and his friend. Marge couldn't believe the boy had a friend, she knew her brother, nephew and sister-in-law tried to keep him as miserable as possible, including leaving him alone and friendless. Harry and Hailey were terrified that they had been spotted, something they worked so hard not to have happen. The two nine year olds tried walking away, only for Marge to stop them.

"Don't even think about walking away," snarled Marge. "You have a meeting with my brother, and we'll see what he has to say."

"We don't even wanna know," said Harry defiantly. "Now, we're leav..."

"You're not going anywhere," snapped Marge. "Now come inside, or else..."

"Or else what?" barked Harry.

"Or else," Marge sneered, followed by an evil grin. "I'll sic Ripper on you and your friend."

Harry and Hailey nodded to each other and immediately made a run for it, angering Marge.

"Ripper, attack those kids." commanded Marge to her favourite bulldog.

The vicious bulldog ran outside and after Harry and Hailey, frightening the kids even more, to the point where they screamed. As the bulldog chased them (with Marge also in pursuit), Harry and Hailey made it back to River Avon and made a desperate, last resort attempt to cross it. Harry remembered that Ripper hated getting wet (he once sprayed water on the dog by accident during Marge's Christmas stay, but Harry was still punished for it), so he led the way with Hailey following. Harry felt his shoes, socks and pants getting soaked as soon as he started running across the water. Hailey wasn't so lucky because she tripped and fell forward into the river, resulting in Harry turning around and pulling her up to her feet. They made it to the other side of the river just as Marge and Ripper spotted them.

"Vernon is gonna be soooooo mad at you, boy," growled Marge as Ripper barked like crazy. "Now get back here, so you can face Vernon, Petunia, and my little neffy-poo like a man."

Harry ignored Marge, then the two kids walked away as Marge continued ranting about 'freaks' not having any 'respect' for their elders. Neither of the Dursleys, nor Dudley's gang had Harry's respect because of the way they treated him. As soon as they were safe, Harry checked for any injuries Hailey might've had, luckily there weren't any. But she was soaking wet, from head to toe. Harry felt his heart beating, as he was still a little frightened, but Hailey was more scared than he was. Her legs gave out, causing her to fall forward again, but Harry caught her before she could hit the ground. As tears flowed from her eyes and down her face, Hailey threw her arms around Harry, hugging him, with Harry hugging her back, providing his best friend as much comfort as he could.

"Th-That was s-s-soo-oo-oo scaryyyyyy!" Hailey tearfully whispered. "That d-dog was w-w-w-wayyyyyyy too-oo-oo-oo-ooo vicious!"

"We're safe, Hailey," soothed Harry. "It's alright, I'm here."

He ignored the fact that Hailey was still wet from falling into the river. Sure, he felt part of his shirt getting soaked, but Harry was more concerned with comforting his friend. He knew that they needed to get the tent set up, so they could change out of their wet clothes and into dry ones. Once they were sure that they were as far away from Marge and Ripper as possible (and after Hailey had calmed down), the two kids got the tent set up, then they walked inside, got out some clean clothes and went into their respective bedrooms to get changed.

(Meanwhile, back at Privet Drive)

Vernon, Petunia and Dudley were in the living room, trying to think of any possible way to 'get the freak back,' then the telephone rang, with Vernon answering it.

"Hello, Vernon Dursley speaking," Vernon spoke into the mouthpiece, then he perked up. "Oh, hi Marge, what's going on? Oh, you did... how long ago?"

Vernon was getting more and more gleeful as he talked to Marge on the phone. Petunia and Dudley could tell Vernon and Marge were discussing 'the freak' because of the look of triumph that was on Vernon's face.

"Thank you, Marge," said Vernon. "We'll be over there as soon as possible. Okay, bye-bye."

Then he hung up the phone and turned his attention to his wife and son.

"Marge found the freak," said Vernon. "And he even had a friend with him."

"How could he be so ungrateful?" said Petunia with contempt in her voice. "We give him food, water, education and a place to live, and making friends and being happy is the thanks he gives us?"

"He won't be seeing any more friends once we get a hold of him again," said Vernon wickedly, with an evil smile. "He'll be in that cupboard for the next eighteen months, or maybe twenty-four months."

"Can I bring my friends along?" asked Dudley.

"Of course, popkin," said Petunia. "We'll need all the help we can, and I'm sure auntie Marge will appreciate it, too."

So they piled into a van that they used if Dudley wanted to invite all of his friends along for any outing. As soon as they picked up Piers, Dennis, Malcolm and Gordon, they made a beeline for the area Marge's house was located. Once Dudley told them what they were doing, Piers, Dennis, Malcolm and Gordon were also grinning wickedly as they started coming up with plans. Dudley and his gang were eager to find out who 'the freak's' friend was and find a way to teach him or her a 'valuable' lesson. For the Dursleys and Dudley's gang, revenge never felt any sweeter than it did for them now.

 _To be continued!_

 **Author's note: Well, Remus has been partially identified. But now, Harry and Hailey were unfortunate enough to come across Marge and Ripper. Will Harry and Hailey elude capture? Will the Dursleys and Dudley's gang manage to extract revenge? Will Harry and Hailey's helpers eventually find the two runaways and provide them some help, as well as a loving and caring family? Stay tuned to find out more!**


	9. Chapter 9

_Disclaimer: All I own is this fanfic and my OC Hailey, while the OC Xander Scamander belongs to Supernova2015. J.K. Rowling owns the rest of the Harry Potter universe. No copyright intended!_

Ch. 9

Xander Scamander

Once they had finished changing into dry clothes, Harry and Hailey packed the tent again to resume their journey. They were walking pretty fast, trying to put as much distance between themselves and Marge as possible. Harry and Hailey knew she was bound to get the rest of the Dursleys (and likely Dudley's gang) over to her place, so they could look for 'the freak' with much more ease and at a faster pace. Around a couple more hours later, they came across another bridge where a highway was built on, with the river flowing under. Nevertheless, Harry and Hailey started jogging once they passed under the bridge, knowing the further from Marge they got, the better chance they had of eluding capture.

Meanwhile, back at the prison in the middle of the North Sea, the man with long, shaggy-black hair was working on his plan to reunite with Harry. The prisoner was trying to get thin enough to slip through the bars and swim to shore once he escaped the prison, and he was trying to achieve that by eating smaller meals.

'Don't worry, pup,' thought the man. 'Our day of reuniting is on it's way!'

So he continued to bide his time in his prison cell, waiting for the right moment to escape.

(Line break)

It was around half past 5:00 PM when Harry and Hailey decided to stop and set the tent up when they spotted a strange man approaching them. He had brown hair and blue eyes, and he appeared to be in his late 20s or possibly early 30s, but Harry and Hailey naturally got all tense, believing he may have been sent to take them back to their respective so-called families. To their surprise, the man just smiled at them in a friendly manner.

"Don't worry," he assured. "I'm here to help you."

"W-What?" Hailey nervously replied.

"Am I hearing this r-r-right?" asked Harry.

"Yes, Mr. Potter, I'll prove it to you and your friend, if you'd like." said the strange man.

"O-Okay." said Harry.

As the man got out some sort of stick, he pointed it up and recited, "I, Xander Scamander, swear by my life and magic that I'm here to help you two and that I'm telling the truth."

The stick glowed gold, then the man named Xander Scamander cast some sort of spell to make some light appear at the tip of the stick as proof that he was being truthful, surprising Harry and Hailey.

"Sorry about being nervous." Harry and Hailey apologized at the same time.

"Don't you worry," assured Xander. "I understand what you two have been going through."

"Y-You d-d-do?" wondered Harry.

"B-But h-how did you find out?" asked Hailey.

"It's a long story," said Xander. "But, why don't we find a place to stay? We can't risk the wrong people listening to our conversation."

Harry and Hailey nodded to show that they understood. So Xander started leading them to a place he knew of. They eventually came to a house that didn't show a walkway leading up to the gate.

"Don't worry," said Xander. "This house is also under the Fidelius charm."

"Also?" wondered Hailey.

"Yes," said Xander as they made their way to the front door, with Xander showing the kids inside. Then Xander closed the door. "That tent you've been using is also under the charm, if you remember the note."

"Oh yeah," Hailey realized. "The afternoon Harry and I left Little Whinging."

"We're sorry about using the tent..." Harry started apologizing once he realized the tent belonged to Xander.

"No worries, Harry, no worries," assured Xander. "If any kid is in trouble, I tend to keep a reasonable distance from them, while keeping myself invisible, then I'll put my tent in a secluded area where a kid or group of kids in trouble can find it easily, that way it's there for anybody who's in need of a new life."

"So you've also been watching us?" asked Hailey.

"Yeah, some of the time," said Xander. "The tent is also placed with a tracking charm, but only I can tell where the tent is, just so the wrong person doesn't stumble upon it, such as in your case."

"Oh okay," said Harry. "Is... is this also to make sure you ch-check on us from time to time?"

"Yes, Harry," said Xander. "I've been going undercover as well, to give your respective families some comeuppance."

"What kind of... comeuppance?" asked Hailey.

"Harry's uncle Vernon," said Xander. "He got demoted to being a staff supervisor a few weeks ago. Harry's cousin, Dudley and his friends have also been expelled from St. Grogery's Primary School, though everybody found out too late what your lives were really like."

"Has my father also received any?" asked Hailey.

"No, he's diffcult to find," said Xander. "Do you have any ideas where he often goes to?"

"Some kind of bar," said Hailey. "Though I was never told which one, probably his way of ensuring he gets away with what he did to me."

"That one will be challenging," said Xander. "I'll probably need to follow him to see which bar he goes to."

"That'd be wonderful," said Hailey. "I despise him getting drunk and never treating me how a father should treat his own children."

"I do have a way of making this easier," said Xander. "But, you both look tired, so why don't you two go to sleep and we'll get this taken care of in the morning."

"Well, okay." said Harry and Hailey simultaneously.

So the two nine year olds were shown to their respective bedrooms to sleep for the night. Both kids were knackered and somehow fell asleep quickly. Xander knew that Albus Dumbledore needed a wake-up call on his unwise decision to leave Harry with the Dursleys all those years ago.

The next morning, Harry and Hailey woke up and made their way to the living room and found Xander sitting on the couch, waiting for them.

"Are you two ready?" he asked.

"Yes," said the two kids. "What will y-you do?"

"Well," said Xander. "This method is known as memory extraction. I'd like two of your worst memories to show Albus Too-Many-Names Dumbledore, especially from you, Harry."

"Well, okay," said Harry. "May I ask what this has to do with this Dumbledore?"

"He placed you on the Dursleys' doorstep the evening after your parents were murdered," informed Xander. "Even though his deputy headmistress and a friendly half-giant objected, Albus remained adamant, claiming it was for this Greater Good malarkey."

"Oh," said Harry, who began despising Albus. "But, how did you find out?"

"Well," Xander started explaining. "There were a few occasions where some families have been wanting to take you in should something happen to your parents, Harry. One of those witches who was said to have been on the list of possible guardians for you is Amelia Bones, head of the DMLE, which stands for Department of Magical Law Enforcement, a department at the Ministry of Magic. She was discussing it with your father's godmother, Minvera McGonagall."

"Did that mean you were at the ministry?" asked Harry.

"Yes, Harry," said Xander, then he continued. "Amelia had asked me to help locate you, but nobody could. When Minerva came to the ministry, I was in Amelia's office, helping her go over some paperwork when Minerva walked in. She told Amelia about having had enough of Dumbledore's Greater Good nonsense. When Amelia and myself asked about you, Minerva mentioned that you lived with the Dursleys at #4 Privet Drive, which was a relief, so I went undercover to spy on those muggles. I was beyond angry with their treatment toward you."

"So Dumbledore was the one who placed Harry with those awful muggles," Hailey realized. "He didn't seem to think the ordeal through long and hard."

"Yeah, but from what Minerva said, Albus wouldn't tell her what this Greater Good rubbish was," said Xander. "The ole coot is way too discreet with that."

"Something tells me he won't give it up." said Hailey.

"Yeah, or at least very easily," said Harry. "Well, I'm ready to get a couple memories extracted."

"Me, too," said Hailey. "I wanna stay as far away from my father as possible."

Harry went first, so Xander instructed Harry to think of the two worst memories, use a wand provided and extract the memory, then he did the same with the second memory. Then Hailey went next, doing what Xander instructed and got her two worst memories extracted. Harry's memories were placed in separate vials with a sky-blue cap, while Hailey's memories were placed in separate vials with pink caps, that way confusion would be avoided. Xander provided the kids with some pepperup potion, then they bade one another goodbye. Harry and Hailey left to resume their journey while Xander went to get his task taken care of, knowing that Albus needed to realize the errors of his decision the hard way.

(Line break)

Back at the Burrow, the man named Remus came back, so he could help Arthur and Molly out with looking for Harry. Ginny continued to stay in her room for most of the time, clearly upset that she may never get to find out if that boy she spotted was Harry. Xenophilius and Luna also came by to help, as did Hermione and her parents. Molly went upstairs to the door to her daughter's room and knocked, but Ginny didn't respond.

"Ginny, you can't stay in there forever." said Molly.

Then Ginny walked over, opened the door and said, "But I want to find out if that was Harry. What if he's trying to avoid me for no reason?"

"I don't think he'd avoid you for no reason," Molly assured her daughter. "He and his friend were probably terrified that they'd have to return to their relatives, assuming that that was why they may have ran away."

"You think so?" asked Ginny.

"Of course, sweetie," said Molly, hugging her daughter to provide comfort. "Your father did suggest that maybe we can divide into groups and look in different places. It may not work, but it's worth a shot."

"Well, okay mum," said Ginny. "Maybe Harry and his friend made his way back closer to here."

"Possibly," said Molly. "But don't get your hopes up too high because it's very unlikely that they came back this way. They also don't seem to have a final destination in mind."

So Molly and Ginny went back downstairs to the living room. Arthur decided that one group would be Hermione, her parents and Ron; the second group to be himself, Molly, and Ginny while Xenophilius, Remus and Luna were the third group. Then they left the Burrow and went out to see if they could find Harry and his friend. Meanwhile, the Dursleys and Dudley's gang made it to Marge's house, intent on extracting revenge on 'the freak' for causing all of their mishaps. Marge showed them over to the part of the river 'the freak' and his friend crossed yesterday and pointed to the direction they went. Satisifed with the hint, they all followed the river to carry out their revenge.

 _To be continued!_

 **Author's note 1: I'd like to thank Supernova2015 for suggesting the ideas of Harry and Hailey running into Xander after escaping from Marge and Ripper, Xander showing the kids to a house under the fidelius charm to stay in for the night, Harry and Hailey providing some of their own worst memories, and Xander assuring that he was trying to help them in any way possible.**

 **Author's note 2: Well, the Dursleys and Dudley's gang have made it to where Marge had last seen Harry and Hailey. Will they capture the two or will Harry and Hailey elude them? Will Harry's and Hailey's other helpers find them or slip through them like grains of sand? Stay tuned to find out more.**


	10. Chapter 10

_Disclaimer: As mentioned before, I don't own the Harry Potter universe, J.K. Rowling has that honor. I just own this fanfic and OC Hailey. The OC Xander Scamander belongs to Supernova2015. No copyright intended!_

 **Warning: Reader's discretion is advised in this chapter due to some sensitive moments.**

Ch. 10

An Eye-Opener For Albus

After getting the memories extracted from Harry and Hailey, Xander apparated to the outside of the wards at Hogwarts. He was marching his way to Albus' office as if he was on the warpath, making the students and teachers step off to the side to let him through. On the way, Xander came across Minerva.

"Mr. Scamander," she greeted. "What can I do for you?"

"I need to speak with Albus," said Xander. "This is an important matter."

"Okay," said Minerva as she showed Xander the way, then she spoke in a whisper. "Password is lemon drop."

"Thank you, Minerva," said Xander. "Maybe you should be present. It may concern you, too."

"Okay." said Minerva.

So they continued walking towards Dumbledore's office. Once they made it to the phoenix statue, Minerva gave the password, revealing spiral staircases, going up like a screw loosening. Once the stairs reached the floor where the door was, Minerva and Xander climbed the stairs. Minerva didn't knock first (seeing that she was informed of Xander wanting to talk to Albus on an important matter and this made her a bit angry), she just barged into the office, making Albus jump in surprise.

"Minerva, what brings..." Albus began greeting his colleague.

"Can it, Albus," said Xander fiercely. "We need to have a serious talk!"

"Can this wait?" asked Dumbledore nervously. "I'm looking for..."

"No it can't," snapped Xander. "This discussion involves Harry Potter!"

Minerva's eyes widened at the revelation, then she fixed Albus with a glare, enough to make Albus cower a bit in fear. Once he was ready, Xander brought out the vials with Harry's memories, opened one and poured it into a basin, then the two wizards and one witch stuck their faces into the basin, and then Harry's first memory began playing.

(Harry's first memory)

It showed a seven-year-old Harry working on a garden outside in the heat, with the temperature presumably at least 100 degrees, with it being midday especially. That forced Harry to stop and walk into the shade to rest and to get a drink of water. He hardly got to drink any when Dudley came outside to see what Harry was doing.

"Hey freak," said Dudley. "You shouldn't be wasting water, you know how expensive you are?"

"I'm not," said Harry. "What's wrong with getting a drink?"

"You're wasting water," said Dudley. "You know how much money it cost?"

"You should be asking yourself that," said Harry. "You're the one who keeps the water on for longer periods than I."

"I don't do that," Dudley lied. "I only use the necessary amount, and no more."

"Yeah, right." said Harry, rolling his eyes.

"MUM, THE FREAK IS WASTING WATER AGAIN!" screamed Dudley.

Petunia marched outside and smacked Harry across the face, hard. Then she locked the door to prevent Harry from coming back inside, as 'punishment' for 'wasting' the water, despite the brutal heat. Harry saw Dudley stick his tongue out at him through a window on the greenhouse.

(End of memory)

They found themselves back in the office, with Albus stunned to see the memory. Minerva looked ready to break down, but her anger at Albus overpowered that. She knew she was right, she warned Albus what kind of muggles the Dursleys were. Xander found it hard to believe that Harry was locked outside on a day where it was 100 degrees, knowing he could've gotten heatstroke, with the lack of water increasing the odds. Xander poured Harry's second and final memory into the basin and the wizards and witch lowered their faces into the basin and Harry's second memory started playing.

(Harry's second memory)

It showed an eight-year-old Harry at a playground in Little Whinging, which wasn't too far from Privet Drive. Harry was trying to befriend a boy about the same age, until five fat kids strolled by, with evil grins.

"HEY, GET AWAY FROM THE FREAK!" screamed Dudley.

"Or you'll get beat up." said Dudley's best friend, Piers.

The boy ran away in fear, leaving Harry downhearted. But, Dudley and his gang just started beating up Harry, who tried running away, but the five, fat bullies easily cornered him.

"Don't you dare try that again," said Dudley in a dangerous voice. "You're not supposed to make friends. Freaks don't deserve that!"

"You're describing yourselves," Harry retorted. "I have just as much right to make friends..."

Dudley and his friends began beating Harry up, in a five-on-one pounding. Even when Vernon and Petunia walked by, they didn't stop Dudley and his gang from 'teaching the freak a lesson.' Once they were finished, Vernon dragged Harry back home and proceeded to beat him with a belt, despite Harry's cries for mercy and protests that Dudley should be receiving the punishment, which got Harry even more beatings, then he was tossed into his cupboard.

(End of memory)

They were back in the office, and Minerva was horrified to have witnessed Harry having gotten beat up by kids who were much bigger and fatter than he, especially with Harry having been outnumbered. Xander, too was shocked by that, and even more so when Vernon and Petunia saw the beating, and yet they didn't punish Dudley, they just punished Harry unjustly. Albus was speechless, he thought he had talked some sense to Vernon and Petunia into the letter he wrote to them that night.

"See, Albus," said Minerva in an 'I-told-you-so' voice. "Didn't I warn you what kind of people the Dursleys were?"

"Y-Y-Yeeessssss." said Albus, cowering in fear.

"But what did you do? You left Harry with those wretched people," Minerva ranted ferociously. "You left him there because of your 'Albus knows best' attitude, and I don't think you ever went to check on Harry from time to time. Otherwise, he wouldn't have ran away."

"Harry's friend also has a couple memories she'd like you to see," informed Xander. "Miss Hailey Brandwood."

"What? Wendy's daughter?!" asked Minerva, not quite sure she heard right.

"Yes," said Xander. "Ever since her death, her daughter has been having a terrible life."

"We might as well view them." said Minerva.

So Xander uncorked one vial of Hailey's memories and poured it into the basin. Hailey's first memory showed her as a seven-year-old, where her father was stocking the refrigerator with some kind of beverage, then he turned his attention to his daughter, grabbed a fireplace poker and poked her arm with it, making the girl scream in pain. This didn't sit well with Hailey's father and he punched her in the stomach for it.

Hailey's second memory showed her, presumably several months later, trying to clean the windows in the backyard. Then her father, in his intoxicated state, warned her (if one could call it that) to make the windows 100% clean or he would douse her in gasoline and set her ablaze, making the girl work hard in fear of receiving such a terrible fate. Minerva and Xander were shocked by that threat, even Albus had his eyes widened. Once they were back in the headmaster's office, they were speechless, since they started getting a sickening feeling in their stomachs.

"What kind of father would threaten their child with something like that?" asked an outraged Minerva.

"Burns are one of the most painful injuries one can receive," said Xander. "Gasoline is used for fuel in the muggle world, for vehicles and gas-powered lawnmowers. It ignites so fast that, in an enclosed space, it will explode."

"Merlin!" said Minerva, who looked ready to pass out.

Albus was still speechless, finding it hard to believe what the memories revealed. Xander just glared at the headmaster, who looked as though he required a second set of robes, since he was sweating profusely.

"W-W-Where is Mr. Potter and Miss Brandwood?" asked Albus nervously.

"Criss-crossing the countryside," said Xander. "But I have no intentions to reveal their exact location."

"But, I..." Albus began saying.

"But _nothing_ , Albus!" bellowed Xander.

"Did Miss Brandwood also run away with Mr. Potter?" asked Minerva.

"Yes," said Xander. "They don't trust anyone easily. I had to prove to them, with the magical and life oath that I was helping them."

This made Minerva glare at Albus again, then she left the office, too angry to even look at him. Xander, too glared at the headmaster once more before leaving. Albus was so terrified that he felt his legs go rigid, finding himself unable to get up.

(Line break)

Harry and Hailey were still following River Avon, then they eventually came to a junction in the river. Harry got out a magical map, which told him that one of the rivers in the junction was called _River Marden_.

"Which river shall we follow?" asked Hailey.

"Perhaps River Marden," said Harry. "This could throw the Dursleys off track easier."

"Well, okay, let's give it a try." said Hailey.

Once Harry put the map away, the two runaways followed River Marden. It would be bad if the Dursleys (and Dudley's gang) captured them. Hailey would have to re-experience her father's wrath and likely get beat up by Dudley's gang. Harry would definitely get beat up as well if they returned to the past. As they continued following River Marden, Harry and Hailey didn't realize that they were holding hands, due to being lost in their respective train of thoughts. When they realized, they widened their eyes and let go of each other's hands, while blushing at the same time.

"Sorry, I d-d-didn't mean to, Hailey." said Harry, still blushing.

"It'a alright, Harry," said Hailey, who was still blushing as well. "But, for some reason, it felt so warm and good."

"Y-Yeah," Harry admitted. "Why is that?"

"I don't know," said Hailey. "Maybe it's something good."

"Yeah, maybe it is." said Harry.

So the two nine-year-olds continued following River Marden. At some point, Harry heard Hailey humming to a very familiar song. It sounded so familiar, Harry remembered hearing the song once before, when he was tending to his garden about a year ago, one of the neighbors' houses had a window open, with the stereo being loud enough for Harry to hear, thus subsequently giving him something to concentrate on that didn't have anything to do with getting abused.

"Hailey, what song are you humming to?" asked Harry.

"It's a song called Heartlight," stated Hailey. "The musician who wrote and sang it is Neil Diamond. Mum sang it to me a few times when she would tuck me into bed, helping me fall asleep easier."

"I've heard it once before," said Harry. "But this is the first time I was ever told the name of it. The one time I heard the song, I was tending the garden my aunt took credit for. It sounded so touching, not just the music, but the words, too."

"That's why I love the song," said Hailey. "The words in the chorus especially."

The two runaways decided to stop and rest upon spotting a boulder that was big enough too sit on, while they'd hum the song to each other. As Hailey did so, she began shedding tears, despite Harry witnessing it. Harry could tell that Hailey missed her mum with all her heart, everytime she'd hum the song, it'd remind her of her mother. Harry also felt tears shedding, he could feel the emotions in the tune. Hailey snifled as she cried silently, then she threw her arms around Harry's shoulders, hugging him while she cried into his shoulders. Harry hugged her back as he felt more tears shedding. The hug Hailey was giving Harry also felt warm with comfort, it made both kids feel safe as they continued hugging each other.

"Harry," Hailey whispered while sobbing. "Would you hum the song to me, please?"

"Of course!" Harry whispered, while choking up.

He hummed Heartlight to Hailey, who continued sobbing into his shoulders as she hugged him. Harry continued hugging Hailey as he hummed the song to her. Hailey felt a smile forming across her face as she heard Harry's humming, but tears were still flowing from her eyes. Harry felt more tears flow down his face as he kept humming to Hailey, feeling more emotions while he did so.

 _To be continued!_

 **Author's note 1: While writing the last part of this chapter, I was listening to Neil Diamond's Heartlight and I felt that the song fit perfectly for the moment between Harry and Hailey. This also made it even harder to write as I could feel the emotions, too.**

 **Author's note 2: As if a child getting threatened to be doused with gasoline and set on fire is bad enough, I can never put any rape scenes in any of my stories. Rape is just way too dark and traumatizing, so I came up with something different.**

 **Author's note 3: Supernova2015 gave me the idea of Xander showing Dumbledore Harry's and Hailey's respective memories. I had Minerva witness the memories too, but the main idea belongs to Supernova2015.**


	11. Chapter 11

_Disclaimer: As usual, I don't own the Harry Potter franchise, that honor belongs to J.K. Rowling. I just own this fanfic and OC Hailey. The OC Xander Scamander belongs to Supernova2015. No copyright intended!_

 **Warning: This chapter will mention references to the 1977 Disney movie, Pete's Dragon and have spoilers from the movie itself. Don't read if you haven't seen it before.**

Ch. 11

More Troubles

Back in the prison out in the middle of the North Sea, the man with shaggy, long black hair was looking happy. He had lost some weight, but it still wasn't enough to accomplish his plan.

"One more week, just one more week at least and I should be able to slip through the bars." the man whispered to himself.

Meanwhile, the Dursleys and Dudley's gang were still driving around, looking for 'the freak' and his friend. They were desperate to find them, so they could use 'the freak' as a slave again and for Dudley and his gang to beat up 'the freak' and his friend. Marge was still mad that the 'ungrateful brat' and his friend defied her and ran off.

"The boy can't be too far," said Vernon as he looked around while driving. "Where did he go?"

"And could any kid be stupid enough to be friends with a freak?" wondered Dudley.

"That one was," said Piers. "How this friend of the freak's befriended him without any of us knowing? Surely we had eyes and ears around school and the other kids obeyed our demands, unless…"

"Unless," said Dudley. "The freak and his friend must've befriended each other… in the library."

"Pretty much," said Piers. "The freak must've used the library as some kind of loophole. How dare he?"

"Once we get reinstated at St. Grogery's, we can talk the headmistress into forbidding the freak from going into the library ever again." said Dudley with glee.

"If we have to," suggested Dennis. "We can split up and it would make patrolling the hallways much easier."

"Yeah," agreed Malcolm. "The freak needs to learn the phrase, 'what goes around, comes around.' Since he disobeyed us, we'll tell him that."

"Oh goodie," said Gordon with delight. "We'll teach the freak a lesson, once and for all. This friend of his will also get a beating, which can be a lesson to the other kids of what'll happen to them if they don't comply with our demands."

"Yeah, and we can get that librarian blacklisted. Right, dad?" said Dudley.

"That's right, Dudders." said Vernon.

"That's my little neffy-poo," said Marge, patting her nephew fondly on his porky shoulder. "You and your friends will be the top boys once more!"

"And we'll be the top residents of Privet Drive once more, too." said Petunia.

So Vernon drove on as he and everyone else in the van kept a lookout for 'the freak.' Meanwhile, Harry and Hailey continued following River Marden once Hailey finished grieving for her mother. There was another city in which the river ended, forcing the runaways to stop before getting too close.

"I guess we should go south a bit and see if we can find a way around." said Harry.

"Yeah," agreed Hailey. "I don't see another river around, and we can't backtrack because we'll run into your so-called relatives more than likely."

"Wait a minute," said Harry as he remembered another two way. "Maybe we should backtrack a little."

Then he got out the magical map they'd use to look for more shortcuts and what-not. Indeed, there was a lake close by called, _Bowood Lake_. Hailey looked at the map and thought the decision over.

"Yeah, let's backtrack a tad," said Hailey. "Then follow the river to that lake."

So she and Harry went to do that. It didn't take that long to make it, even by foot since the beginning of their journey had been helping the two runaways stay in shape. They were on the east side of the lake, but they decided to follow it south. While they were doing so, Harry and Hailey saw another manor. Remembering their determination not to return to the past, they walked a little ways from it, while still going south. Harry and Hailey also spotted three kids outside, looking for plants from the looks of it. Two of them were girls, who Harry and Hailey somewhat recognized (as one of the girls had blonde hair in pigtails and the other one had red hair). The girls were accompanied by a portly boy, who might've been living in this manor. Harry and Hailey were still within the trees, so they were hidden. The three kids who were looking for plants were talking, so Harry and Hailey opted to listen.

"So Susan," said the blonde haired girl who Harry and Hailey remembered was named Hannah, as they heard her and her best friend talk about them some after they had crossed River Otter. "I've heard that the Weasleys are looking for Harry Potter. Mum and dad have been discussing that for a while. His disappearance even made the headlines on The Daily Prophet."

"Yeah, auntie Amelia even brought that up," said the red haired girl who Harry and Hailey remembered was named Susan. "From what she said, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley mentioned that Ginny was downhearted when she saw the boy who she believed was Harry run away, with a girl who was accompanying him. The girl was said to have light-brown hair. I wonder if those two kids who we saw all those weeks ago must've been who the Weasleys are currently looking for."

"Could be," guessed Hannah. "I'm surprised that they were long gone, fairly quickly."

Harry and Hailey gulped nervously, realizing that a third stranger had spotted them when they came across the Burrow shortly after the start of their journey. This Ginny's father must've been the driver of that ford anglia they spotted before coming across the Burrow.

"Yeah, me too," said Susan. "I do wonder how they managed to slip by pretty fast, since auntie Amelia didn't get to get a look at them."

"What made Harry disappear?" asked the portly boy.

"I have no idea, Neville," said Hannah. "It could be any number of reasons."

"Auntie Amelia also mentioned something else," said Susan. "Mr. Weasley told her that the Lovegoods are also helping out. Apparently, Luna figured out that the black haired boy she saw _was_ Harry, but he and his friend panicked and ran off before Mr. Lovegood came out to look."

Harry and Hailey felt their legs trembling, realizing that there were alot more people looking for them than they thought. Were these people trying to get them to take them back to their respective 'families?' Were they just going to diss them the first chance they got? Or were they really trying to help them? Neither Harry, nor Hailey could come up with any answer to their questions. Regardless, they decided to continued sticking to their plan not to trust any one (at least easily), terrified that anyone offering assitance would be a ruse.

"Gran did tell me something once before," said the boy named Neville. "My mum was said to be Harry's godmother, and Harry's mother being my godmother, which also means that he and I are godbrothers."

"Then why didn't Harry go to you and your gran, Neville?" asked Susan and Hannah.

"From what she also said," Neville continued. "Harry apparently was living a good and healthy life, at least that's what Professor Dumbledore said to her once, but if Harry disappeared, then how could he have lived a good and healthy life?"

"I wish I knew." said Hannah.

"Auntie Amelia told me that she was one of Harry's possible guardians should something happen to his parents," said Susan. "They even told her that."

Harry and Hailey were gobsmacked at what they were hearing. This Neville, Harry's godbrother? His mother, being Neville's godmother, and Neville's mother being Harry's godmother? No, it couldn't be, could it? It was a trick, right? If Harry did have other guardians who wanted to look after him, then why was he stuck with the Dursleys for all those years? How could Harry trust them? The only one he trusted entirely was Hailey and they've been by each other's side since they met, and that intensified when they ran away from Little Whinging. Believing themselves to be in danger, they looked each other in the eyes.

"We'd better sneak away," whispered Harry. "They could be trying to trick us."

"You're right, Harry," Hailey whispered. "Any one of those kids and/or their guardians could turn us in."

Before trying to sneak away, Hailey double-checked Harry's forehead to make sure the makeup still covered his scar. Once they were certain, they tried sneaking out of the trees, making sure to be as stealthy as possible. During the attempt, the kids named Susan, Hannah and Neville would perk up and look into the trees (since the twigs snapping and leaves rustling were audible). Luckily they didn't spot Harry nor Hailey, but the process repeated twice more. Once Harry and Hailey managed to make it to the edge of the trees, they checked their surroundings and looked over at the three kids looking for plants again. Luckily they were still distracted, but Harry and Hailey started backing away slowly so neither Hannah, Susan nor Neville would spot them. Unfortunately for Harry, he was still backing away slowly that he didn't notice a tree root sticking up. This made him trip over it, falling onto his back in the process.

"Oof!" Harry blurted out.

This also got the attention of Neville, Hannah and Susan. They turned around just as Hailey went to help Harry up.

"You okay, Harry?" asked Hailey, not realizing she had said it loud enough for it to be heard.

"Yeah, thank you Hailey for…" said Harry as he got back onto his feet.

"Harry?!" Neville, Hannah and Susan blurted out simultaneously, as they got up and started walking toward Harry and Hailey.

The two runaways gasped in horror as they spotted the three kids and immediately made a run for it. Neville, Hannah and Susan ran after them a little bit.

"Wait, don't leave!" the three called out. "We just…"

Neville, Hannah and Susan realized that they wouldn't be able to catch up to Harry and Hailey, so they stopped to catch their breath. They were watching Harry and Hailey running further and further away, impressed that they were pretty fast.

"We'd better go inform our respective guardians." said Hannah. "Mum and dad will want to know."

"Auntie will, too." said Susan.

"And so will gran." said Neville.

After the head start, Harry and Hailey stopped to catch their breath. They weren't quite far enough from Neville, Hannah and Susan, but still a reasonable distance.

"I'm sorry, Harry," Hailey apologized. "I didn't realize I said your name that loud. I was just…"

"Don't worry, Hailey," assured Harry. "I understand you were concerned. If my scar had been exposed, we wouldn't have made it out here. They would've gotten their guardians in a heartbeat and prevented us from escaping."

"Yeah, but still, I feel guilty for that." said Hailey.

"Hailey, I'm not mad at you at all," assured Harry, giving Hailey a hug to prove it. "Maybe it was entirely my fault because I should've looked behind me from time to time."

"I can't let you take all the blame," said Hailey, hugging Harry back. "I'd say half of it was your fault and the other half my fault."

"I'll have to be more careful and make sure no more tree roots stick up wherever we walk." said Harry.

The two runaways were still hugging each other to the point where they were spotted again. When they noticed, they saw that the kids named Neville, Hannah and Susan had notified their respective guardians because they came out, too. Harry and Hailey again panicked, so they turned around and ran south. The adults tried to run after Harry and Hailey, but they noticed how fast Harry and Hailey could run, so continuing the pursuit was worthless.

"Geez, we were so close!" exclaimed Amelia.

"If that boy with the black hair had that scar, then he would definitely be Harry." said Neville's grandmother, then she turned to Neville, Hannah and Susan. "You three weren't kidding, those kids _really_ can run and leave us in the dust."

"This means that we still don't know for sure if that is Harry." said Hannah's mother.

"Auntie, do you think the runaways have a destination in mind?" Susan asked her aunt.

"Who knows, Susan," said Amelia. "Given their reaction, they may not have one at all."

So Neville, Hannah and Susan (along with their respective guardians, and Hannah's parents) continued watching the running forms of Harry and Hailey getting smaller the further they got. Soon, Harry and Hailey were no longer in sight (having ran into another bunch of trees), so they all went back inside. While Neville, Hannah and Susan felt pretty sure they finally spotted Harry, they didn't have the proof to have it confirmed. Meanwhile, Harry and Hailey made it to the edge of the other bunch of trees and found themselves facing a clear patch of dirt going toward an actual road from the looks of it.

"We must be on some kind of farm." guessed Harry.

"Yeah, we must be," said Hailey as she pointed to plow marks. "That seems to imply it."

"I see another bunch of trees presumably 150 feet or so away," said Harry, pointing. "The bunch doesn't seem to be any bigger than this bunch."

"I wonder how we'll make it without getting spotted," said Hailey. "We'll be out in the open and your so-called relatives could be anywhere."

"I guess our only option is to make a run for it," said Harry. "We'll need to be quick, though. If we can, we can hide for a minute or something as a precaution."

"Let's do it." said Hailey.

So Harry and Hailey made a run for it, with one occasion where they crawled on their hands and knees to stay hidden. When they felt it was safe, they got back upright and continue running. Once they were within the trees, they decided on a late lunch and stopped.

(Line break)

Meanwhile at the Burrow, the Weasleys, the Lovegoods and Remus made it back. Despite having divided into groups, they still never found Harry nor his friend. Ginny went up to her room and shut the door, then she went to lay down on her stomach on her bed, put her arms onto her pillow and buried her face into her arms. It looked like she was on the verge of crying because they still couldn't find the boy she believed was Harry. Back downstairs, the fire in the fireplace lit up, with Arthur and Molly answering it. It turned out to be Amelia.

"Amelia," greeted Arthur. "What may we do for you?"

"I just fire-called you all to give you some news," said Amelia. "Susan and I were at Longbottom Manor. Susan, Neville and Hannah were outside when they spotted two kids, with one of them looking like who they believed was Harry Potter. He also had a companion with him, a girl with light-brown hair."

"They must be the kids who Ginny spotted," guessed Arthur. "Are they still close by Longbottom Manor?"

"No unfortunately," said Amelia. "Those two ran fast, we couldn't even catch up to them. Hopefully, they won't be terribly far. Augusta thought, if you all wanted to, you can come by Longbottom Manor tomorrow. She believed that the more help, the better chance we might have of finding Harry and his friend."

"Ginny will be happy to hear," said Molly. "She keeps saying that she wants Harry to stay in one place long enough to be found by one of us."

"I don't think that part will happen," said Amelia. "But, with more of us trying to locate Harry and his friend, we'll have a higher chance of succeeding."

"Well, okay," said Arthur. "I'll let Augusta know that we'll be more than willing to help."

"Alright, see you all tomorrow." said Amelia.

Once that fire call was finished, Arthur got ready to fire call Augusta at Longbottom Manor.

"So there's a little bit of higher hope of finding Harry." said Remus.

Molly went upstairs to give Ginny the heads up. Ron and Hermione were in the living room listening to the firecall. Soon, it was time for Hermione to go home (since her parents got off of work early). Back in the trees where Harry and Hailey were eating lunch, they had finished up their late lunch. Once they drank some water, they got up and resumed their journey. They decided to travel southeast a little bit to find another river to follow. Harry and Hailey even made sure to avoid buildings, not wanting to attract unwanted attention. Soon, they started walking up a hill, only to hear talking. This forced them to stop and start going south once more. After crossing some fields, Harry and Hailey made it to a street called _Conscience Ln_.

"I do wonder if people on this street develop a conscience." Harry joked.

"Maybe they do." said Hailey as she giggled.

So the continued walking south. Once they thought they could hear a river or something, they ran toward the sound. They found it, but they couldn't stand next to it, so Harry and Hailey decided to backtrack some and go west and follow the river, being careful not to approach any building. When another small town came into plain view, the two runaways started going northwest. The sun was getting close to setting, which meant that Harry and Hailey needed to find another bunch of trees soon, so they could get the tent set up and stop for the night. Realizing that, they decided to jog for a bit. They managed to find a small bunch of trees, which weren't quite big, but big enough to stay hidden and get the tent set up without attracting attention. Once they were in the tent, Harry and Hailey collapsed on the couch after they kicked their shoes off.

"What shall we do before we turn in?" asked Harry.

"Well," said Hailey as she looked at the TV that had a VCR hooked up to it. "Maybe we can watch a movie."

"That'd be swell," said Harry. "Maybe we can have some popcorn, too."

So Harry went to make a batch of popcorn while Hailey went through the VHS tapes to find a movie. She found one that seemed intriguing, a disney movie called _Pete's Dragon_ , which had live action and animation in it. The smell of freshly popped popcorn made Hailey's mouth water. Harry also got out a couple drinking glasses and poured some lemonade into them (they wanted to reward themselves for making sure that they'd stay hydrated and ate more fruits and vegetables). Harry was also intrigued with the movie Hailey chose.

"Pete's Dragon?" said Harry. "I remember my year 4 teacher putting this movie on one day. That year it was only Piers who I shared that class with while Dudley and his other gang members had different teachers."

"Did Piers keep you from watching it?" asked Hailey.

"He tried like heck to do so," said Harry. "It was only half-successful, I was able to watch some parts, but not enough to remember every detail."

"You won't have to worry about that now, Harry." said Hailey.

Harry smiled as he sat down and got comfortable on the couch. Hailey snuggled up to Harry and he put his arm around her shoulders. Despite the two being only nine years old, they felt like they'd known each other for years. It seemed like it had been years since they ran away from Little Whinging, even though it had been like four or five weeks. The fact that they've been inseparable since then made it feel like they've been with each other for the longest time.

Hailey aimed a remote at the VCR and pushed the play button to get it to start. The movie was about a boy named Pete who was 'adopted' by a hillbilly family who treated the boy like a slave, somebody who Harry and Hailey could relate to. Then a dragon named Elliott came to Pete's rescue (which was shown after the credits at the beginning). After spending a night in the forest, Pete and Elliott decided to go to a town called _Passamaquoddy_. Aside from Pete trying his best at staying away from the hillbilly family, the town also dealt with a couple of con artists, as well as Pete clashing with the town's schoolteacher. Eventually, the hillbilly family arrived at the town, still eager to find Pete and use him. A lighthouse keeper and his daughter were interested in looking after Pete despite Pete's natural hesitancy. The hillbilly family eventually teamed up with the con artists in a last ditch attempt to use Pete and Elliott for their respective selfish gains. Both villains' plans were foiled, in addition to Pete getting a loving family and Elliott saving the town. Once Pete was finally in safe hands, Elliott left since it became obvious that he only went to kids who were in need of help.

Harry and Hailey enjoyed the movie and, at the same time, they realized that they had alot in common with Pete. They were surprised by that and they found much more as they continued watching the movie.

"Wow," said Harry. "I never would've known how much we had in common with Pete if we hadn't watched it."

"Yeah, me neither," agreed Hailey. "Like Pete, we were both abused and being treated like a slave."

"Did your father treat you like one?" asked Harry.

"Yeah, but he was always drunk when he would order me to clean the windows, wash the dishes, etc….etc," said Hailey. "He always hated me, even when he was sober, but he didn't dare show that in front of my mum."

"Gee whiz," said Harry. "I can't believe he'd manipulate your mum like that."

"Me neither," said Hailey. "My father's behaviour and the Dursleys behaviour gave them something in common with the Gogans."

"That's right," said Harry. "Pete's determination to stay away from the Gogans and traveling to Passamaquoddy is similar to our plan of running away. Pete's reaction towards Nora when she offers a hand is like our current ones when we'd notice somebody had spotted us."

"Yeah, and also Pete being treated like bad luck is like how we were treated in Little Whinging," said Hailey. "Our teachers were hardly better than Miss Taylor. The behaviour of the Little Whinging citizens toward us was like Passamaquoddy's behaviour towards Pete."

"Yeah," said Harry. "The difference between us and Pete is that Pete finally got a loving and caring family. That still has yet to happen for us. Pete was also treated decently by the kids of Passamaquoddy, but we were treated like a disease by the kids of Little Whinging, me especially because of Dudley and his gang."

I do wonder if Xander is like Elliott," said Hailey. "Their personalities are similar, since Xander told us that he'd help kids who were in trouble."

"Yeah, perhaps Xander is like a human and reality version of Elliott," said Harry. "Since he did allow us to use his tent. Hopefully he got through to Albus Dumbledore with those memories."

"I also wonder how many kids he'd helped before us," said Hailey. "Or if we were the first ones he decided to help."

"I have no clue," said Harry. "It would have to be an indeterminate amount if he helped any kids before us."

"Yeah," said Hailey. "Maybe asking him wouldn't be any of our business."

"Perhaps," said Harry. "But we still wonder how many."

So he got the dishes cleaned up, but Hailey fell asleep on the couch. When Harry returned to the living room, he saw Hailey looking all comfortable as she slept. She didn't even get out of her clothes and into her pajamas, but still he couldn't bring himself to wake her up so she could do so. Instead, Harry went into Hailey's room and pulled the blanket and covers on her bed back. Then he carefully picked Hailey up bridal style and carried her over to her room, set her down gently on her bed and tucked her in.

"Goodnight Hailey." Harry whispered to her sleeping form, making sure not to accidentally wake her up.

Once Harry left the room, the light turned off, then he went to get ready for bed himself. Once he was done, Harry climbed into bed and the light turned off, but he just laid there in the dark, pondering his thoughts. As much as he and Hailey wanted a loving family, they still had no idea who to trust besides each other. Even though Xander was helping out, it was still hard for them to trust him without reassurance. Eventually, Harry fell asleep after what seemed like hours, even though it was really like only twenty minutes.

 _To be continued!_

 **Author's note 1: The movie Pete's Dragon was also something that seemed suitable for Harry and Hailey to watch. It did give them some clues that they have yet to figure out.**

 **Author's note 2: Well, now the Weasleys and the Lovegoods have been fully identified, along with Neville and his grandmother. Will the Dursleys find Harry and Hailey first? Or will the Weasleys, Lovegoods and/or Longbottoms find them first? Stay tuned to find out more.**


	12. Chapter 12

_Disclaimer: As usual, I only own this fanfic and OC Hailey. The OC Xander Scamander belongs to Supernova2015. Everything else belongs to J.K. Rowling. No copyright intended!_

Ch. 12

Different Tactics

When Hailey woke up the next morning, she was surprised to be in her bed. She remembered falling asleep on the couch after watching _Pete's Dragon_. How did she end up in her bed, especially with the fact that she was still in her clothes from yesterday? It was still dark since winter was approaching and Hailey wondered how long she and Harry had before they had to start staying in one spot for longer periods. Harry was already up and he was looking for some fruit and vegetables.

"Good morning, Harry." said Hailey.

"Good morning, Hailey." said Harry.

"How did I end up in my bedroom?" asked Hailey.

"I put you to bed last night," stated Harry. "Since the couch is not entirely comfortable. You were also sound asleep, so I thought I'd tuck you in."

"Well thank you, Harry," said Hailey, smiling at him. "But you didn't have to do that."

"I know," said Harry, giving his best friend a smile in return. "I chose to do it anyway."

The two runaways got to eating breakfast after Harry managed to find something. Once they were done, Hailey went to get a clean set of clothes and went to take a shower while Harry went to do the same in getting a clean set of clothes, but he and Hailey opted to shower one at a time. He checked some kind of magical weather instrument, which mentioned that weather was expected to be decent. Soon, Harry went to shower after Hailey finished and she went to get some supplies to put into her's and Harry's respective backpacks while she waited. Once Harry finished showering, he and Hailey double-checked to make sure they had the necessities in their backpacks. Then Hailey applied make-up over Harry's scar to keep up appearances, then they walked out of the tent and packed it up. Once that was done, they began heading west while making sure they stayed away from buildings. Harry and Hailey still believed that buildings meant people, people meant enemies and enemies meant turning the two runaways in for any kind of reward.

(Meanwhile, back at the Burrow)

The Weasleys were just getting up and getting breakfast before heading over to Longbottom Manor. Ginny was partially relieved that Harry was possibly the boy who Neville, Hannah and Susan spotted. She still wondered who the girl accompanying Harry was and why she was with him. Once they finished breakfast, Arthur and Ron went to pick up Hermione, then they returned to the Burrow, with Molly throwing some sort of powder into the fireplace. Everyone went in one at a time, throwing the powder and stating their destination, which was Longbottom Manor. The Weasleys and Hermione noticed that Remus and the Lovegoods made it, along with Susan and her aunt, as well as Hannah and her parents. Once everybody made it, they went over the plans with finding Harry and his friend, they also decided to divide into groups to ensure that they had a bit of a better chance at finding the runaways. Augusta instructed Remus, Xenophilius, Amelia, Arthur, Molly and Hannah's parents to avoid apparating as much as possible and only use it as a last resort and/or to return to Longbottom Manor. Then they left to go find Harry and his friend, starting with tracking them down by following the way they ran.

"Molly," said Arthur. "I kind of feel like a muggle detective doing all this detective work."

"Yeah, it sure feels like it," agreed Molly. "Also challenging at the same time."

"Harry, Harry," Ginny called out sweetly, hoping this would do the trick. "Come out, come out wherever you are."

"Ginny," said Molly. "I don't think that method will work."

"Well, he has to be here somewhere, mum." said Ginny.

"Yeah, but that method is unlikely to work," Molly told her daughter. "Even if Harry is close by, he'll likely believe that to be a trick."

"Why did Dumbledore choose to leave Harry in an unsafe environment?" Ginny pouted.

"If only we knew," said Arthur, trying to comfort his daughter. "He refuses to say why and remains firm in it."

So they went back to their detective work that Arthur described. Meanwhile, Harry and Hailey continued west while following the waterway at the same time. While they were out in the open and in plain view, there weren't very many vehicles out on the road (since it was still morning), so Harry and Hailey didn't have to worry too much about the police cars, but they were still being cautious. They found a sign identifying the waterway as _Avon Canal_. With that realization, they continued following it, still going west. When another city was in plain view, Harry and Hailey picked up the pace and avoided going near it, knowing that some police officers will get suspicious of two kids wandering around without adult supervision. They made it to another batch of trees that was actually within a park called _Giles Wood_ (as described on a sign nearby), and there was a farm across the bridge. Harry and Hailey still continued with their plan of following the canal west.

Upon spotting what looked like another farm, Harry and Hailey stopped to look around for another bridge. Luckily they spotted one going over the canal, so the two runaways cautiously crossed the bridge, hoping to find another river to follow. Harry got out the magical map that came with the tent and spotted a river that was called _Semington Brook_ , so they decided to head to it. Luckily, it wasn't far away even on foot, so Harry and Hailey jogged toward the river.

"Shall we continue west or go east?" asked Harry.

"Maybe we should go east," said Hailey. "That could throw those Dursleys off track even further."

"Okay." agreed Harry.

So they followed Semington Brook east. Sometimes it would lead them south for a little bit. Semington Brook eventually split, with Harry and Hailey deciding to take one furthest from the road. This, however resulted in the two runaways coming across a house where another wizarding family happened to reside in, and Harry and Hailey were unfortunate to be on the same side of the stream as the house. One of the house's occupants, a girl with brown hair (a bit darker than Hailey's) tied into a medium ponytail was outside with her best friend. The brown haired girl also had cobalt-blue eyes and her best friend had blonde hair going a few inches past the shoulders, and ice-blue eyes. The brown-haired girl was the first to notice the runaways and got her best friend's attention.

"Hey Daphne." said the brown haired girl, shaking her best friend's shoulder.

"What is it, Tracey?" asked the girl named Daphne.

"Look over there." said the girl named Tracey, pointing to the approaching forms of Harry and Hailey.

"A couple kids who seem to be our age," said Daphne. "What are they doing out here without a parent or adult around?"

"I don't know," said Tracey. "But for some strange reason, they don't seem to care about that."

"I do wonder why," said Daphne, then she looked at the black haired boy suspiciously, as did Tracey. "I also wonder if that boy with the black hair is Harry Potter."

"Yeah, he looks like Harry," said Tracey. "But what if that boy doesn't have that scar?"

"It's hard to tell from here," said Daphne. "Especially with his bangs covering his forehead."

"Yeah," said Tracey. "What shall we do, tell my mum and dad about it?"

"We should," said Daphne. "Maybe those kids need help."

Just as Daphne and Tracey got up, Harry and Hailey turned their attention to the two girls. Daphne and Tracey tried their best not to spook the runaways, but naturally it didn't work out. Harry and Hailey gasped and took off before Daphne and Tracey could say something. To make it harder for Harry and Hailey (something they were unaware of), Tracey's parents were actually watching the whole thing through a window. Tracey, Daphne and Tracey's parents were impressed with the speed the two runaways displayed as they ran away. Tracey's parents came outside to try to find out what all had happened.

"Tracey, what was going on?" asked her mother.

"Daph and I spotted those two kids walking toward us," said Tracey. "The boy with the untidy black hair was possibly Harry Potter."

"We never spotted the scar on his forehead," said Daphne. "His bangs may have been covering it up, so we can't confirm if that was Harry."

"I see," said Tracey's mother. "It was surprising to see how fast those two were running."

(Line break)

The Weasleys, Longbottoms, Bones', Lovegoods, Remus, Hermione, Hannah and her parents were still searching for Harry and his friend. In spite of dividing into groups, they still weren't having much luck in finding the runaways. Ginny resisted the temptation to go with her initial plan of calling out to Harry in a sweet voice, realizing her mother was right and that Harry probably would believe that method to be a trick. Likewise, the Dursleys and Dudley's gang were still searching for 'the freak' and the kid who dared to befriend him. They were determined to get them, even if it took many more weeks or even months.

Meanwhile, Harry and Hailey continued running as they followed Semington Brook east. They slowed down some once they felt they were a safe distance away from the girls who spotted them. The two runaways kept following the stream until they came to another split in the river, then Harry got out the magical map to find out which way they should go.

"Should we continue following Semington Brook or follow Summerham Brook?" asked Harry.

"Maybe Summerham Brook," said Hailey as she looked over the map with Harry. "If we continued following Semington Brook, we'll end up approaching another town. According to the map, there's even an airfield close by. There's bound to be people there, so taking Summerham Brook would be the better option."

"You're right, Hailey," agreed Harry. "We've already had run-ins with several people in shorter time periods."

So the two started following Summerham Brook after Harry put the map away. The brook passed by another bit of farmland that was growing either corn or peas. Harry and Hailey opted not to check to find out, wanting to avoid unwanted attention since there could be farmers nearby. They continued following the brook with alot of farmland close by. As soon as they made it another canal, or so it seemed, Harry got the map out again to check it.

"Well, shoot," said Harry, when the map revealed that they made it back to Avon Canal. "We kinda backtracked a little."

"Maybe we should've continued following Semington Brook after all," Hailey concluded, then she looked out over the canal and saw some people on the other side. "Look over there, Harry."

They brought out a couple pairs of binoculars to get a better look at the group of people. Harry and Hailey gasped when they realized who the group of people were. They all had red hair, except for one, a girl who had bushy brown hair. The two recognized the man, the driver of the ford anglia they encountered before coming across the Burrow.

"Krud!" said Hailey. "The red heads must be the Weasleys I remember hearing those kids named Susan, Hannah and Neville talking about."

"Yeah," said Harry. "They must also be looking for us after all, trying to track us down in some way. We'd better turn around and go back to continue following Semington Brook."

"Yeah, although I do wonder who that bushy-brown haired girl must be." said Hailey as they turned around and jogged back the way they came.

"She must be friends with them Weasleys," guessed Harry. "The boy and girl with red hair, as well as that bushy brown haired girl appear to be our age."

"Yeah, they do," said Hailey. "That red haired girl may be that Ginny Weasley we also heard Neville, Hannah and Susan talking about."

"I do wonder if she may have made that twig snap before we ran away from the Burrow," said Harry. "Since that noise came from within the trees."

"She may very well have done that," Hailey guessed. "It was a good thing we ran off when we did. Otherwise, she would've turned us in and caused our journey to come to an abrupt end, especially after only about two days after leaving Little Whinging."

"Maybe her family would've done so, too." said Harry.

When it was time for a lunch break, Harry and Hailey decided to get out an apple and a bottle of water each. Normally they would've rested some during lunch, but they didn't want to lollygag in case the Weasleys managed to make it to the side of the canal they were on. If they did, Harry and Hailey didn't want to think of the worst that could happen to them. For the fact that they still believe the Weasleys to be a threat, Harry and Hailey walked while they ate their respective apples.

Meanwhile, the Weasleys continued trying to track the runaways down. Ginny was getting all desperate because she had been eager to meet Harry for a long time. She wanted so badly to call out for him again, but she knew it wasn't worth the time to do so. Arthur couldn't believe that he had missed the untidiness of that boy's hair because he very much resembled Harry.

"Dad, why can't you just use the 'point me' spell?" asked Ginny. "It'd be better and easier to do that. We'd find Harry alot faster, too."

"That isn't how muggles do detective work, Ginny," Arthur explained. "We don't even know if that is Harry Potter because there isn't any proof to confirm it."

Ginny groaned in exasperation, she wanted so badly for Harry to quit running off so she could meet him. Meanwhile, Harry and Hailey made it back to the split in the river and resumed following Semington Brook, being careful not to backtrack any further to avoid making it easier to be found. Harry and Hailey spotted the open area that may have been the airfield, so they knew they were going the right way. They came across a pond behind what may have been a farmhouse (or farm property at least), so the runaways went around the pond by going into the trees. So far so good, so Harry and Hailey continued walking through the trees to get back to the brook a safe distance from the property. Once they managed getting by undetected, the runaways continued to follow the brook. Harry and Hailey eventually spotted another small town.

"Krud, how are we gonna get around the town?" asked Harry.

"Maybe we should go south," suggested Hailey. "As long we stay away from roads that are unnecessary."

"Yeah, we may need to cross some," Harry realized. "We'll need to be quick, though."

They walked south a bit and came across a road that was surrounded by tall grass of something. Looking both ways to make sure no vehicles were coming, the runaways crossed and looked out over the field.

"This one's gonna be harder than I thought," Hailey noticed. "There's wide open land and the lack of trees will make it easier for us to get spotted."

"And what may be storage buildings over there." said Harry as he pointed to some buildings a little ways to their right.

"Let's turn around and go north." said Hailey, thinking it was a better option.

"Okay," agreed Harry. "If we did go any further south, we'd get spotted easier due to a lack of trees to hide in."

So he and Hailey turned around and went north. They backtracked some in order to find trees to hide in. The town was still in sight, but the runaways stayed a reasonable distance away. Going north turned out to be the better choice because some of the open farmland had what looked like hedges, making that ideal for sneaking by without anyone noticing. Some of the hedges were next to a street, which Harry and Hailey crossed to get to the other side and continue their tactic. Anytime a building of some sort came into plain view, Harry and Hailey would turn directions, just to be safe and not run into anybody. They reached a highway that, unfortunately had an intersection to the west. After looking both ways, Harry and Hailey very quickly crossed the street and into the next little bunch of trees to hide. They waited a minute to make sure nobody stopped right by their hiding spot, then they continued north when they felt certain they were safe.

"That was a close one." said Hailey.

"Yeah, I thought we'd possibly be done for," said Harry. "If we don't find another river or stream or something soon, our journey may come to an end."

"We'll have to keep a sharp eye out for one." stated Hailey.

Another town eventually came into plain view, forcing Harry and Hailey into going east. Then they reached a street called _Mill Ln_ , which they crossed and continued east, making sure to be on the lookout for another river to follow. They traveled east a little bit when they spotted another bunches trees, with Harry and Hailey having decided to stop and set the tent up for the night. Meanwhile, the Weasleys and those who were trying to find the runaways had to return to their respective residences. They were all stumped that Harry and his friend had run faster and further than they anticipated. They all needed to get some sleep and continue the search the next day. They all realized that finding Harry and Hailey was going to be very difficult, especially with their exceptional skills in slipping by undetected.

 _To be continued!_

 **Author's note: Well, Daphne, Tracey and Tracey's parents have been partially identified. I also figured that there had to be an occasion where Harry and Hailey inadvertently backtrack a tad. They finally (and completely) know what the Weasley family looks like. Will the Weasleys and their friends find Harry and Hailey first or will it be the Dursleys and Dudley's gang? Will Harry and Hailey continue to elude capture and resume their journey? Stay tuned to find out more.**


	13. Chapter 13

_Disclaimer: As mentioned before, I only own this fanfic and OC Hailey. The OC Xander Scamander belongs to Supernova2015, everything else belongs to J.K. Rowling. No copyright intended, this is just written for fan-made purposes only._

Ch. 13

The Dursley's Comeuppance

Harry and Hailey got up around 5:00 AM, a bit earlier than usual. This was because they wanted to put as much distance between themselves and their searchers as possible and they felt the earlier they left, the better. After Hailey applied makeup over Harry's scar, they packed the tent up and continued northeast. Harry and Hailey even agreed that they ought to keep a pair of binoculars each in their respective backpacks after having used them to spot the Weasleys and the bushy haired girl with them, just in case they were needed. Harry and Hailey made it to a road called _Whistley Rd_ , which they crossed to continue east. They remained cautious and stayed away from buildings, criss crossing across farmland to stay hidden.

"Krud," said Harry as another town came into plain view. "We'd better get the map out and look for a way around."

"Okay," said Hailey as she got the magical map out and examined it. "That town is, according to the map, called Devizes. It appears to be big, at least big enough for us to get spotted. We'll need to go southeast, it'd be our best bet."

"Let's do it." said Harry.

So they walked southeast a little, then they reached a street called _Hartmoor Rd_. After checking their surroundings, they crossed and continued. They were quick to spot another town (which was called Potterne, according to the map). They turned east and began walking that way to avoid strolling into the town. There was some wide open farmland, which forced Harry and Hailey into running as fast as possible. Then another town, a smaller one started coming into plain view. The runaways avoided going near it and continued east. Harry and Hailey traveled northeast some, hoping to find another river they could follow. Then Harry got out the magical map to check and was shocked that they came to River Avon again, which they wanted to avoid so the Dursleys and Dudley's gang couldn't find them. Seeing no other river around, they reluctantly followed it northeast, which eventually went east. They came across a bridge and another one not too far from the first. They were around in Brimslade Marlborough, according to the map.

"That second bridge doesn't seem to have any buildings close by it," said Hailey when she checked the magical map. "Shall we walk up to that one?"

"Might as well," said Harry. "If we don't want anybody getting suspicious."

So he and Hailey did just that. After doing so, the runaways spotted a bunch of trees next to some farmland about several hundred feet from where they were standing. Harry and Hailey began jogging toward the trees. There was even a clear patch of land within the trees, which was a relief to the runaways. There was even another cluster of trees with another clear patch of land within. Upon reaching the edge of the cluster, there was a road and the runaways walked northeast to find more trees to hide in. They came upon another street and crossed once they checked for any vehicles. The runaways continued northeast into yet another cluster of trees, with more farmland visible between the trees. Harry and Hailey spotted a manor (another magical one from the looks of it) with three girls walking away from it and over to a pond close by. This made Harry and Hailey tense up because they recognized two of them and the smaller girl looked like a younger version of the blonde haired girl. The three girls sat down by the pond to splash around or something. Harry and Hailey stayed where they were so as not to alert the girls, but they were still within earshot to listen to them talk.

"I'm surprised that those kids you and I spotted walking by your house ran so fast, Tracey," said the older blonde hair girl. "Even your parents were impressed."

"Yeah," said the girl named Tracey. "If that black haired boy _is_ Harry Potter, how long will he and his friend continue with what they've been doing?"

"I don't have any idea." said Daphne.

"Did you and Tracey really see Harry Potter, Daphne?" asked the younger blonde hair girl with excitement.

"That's what Tracey and I believe, Tori," said the girl named Daphne. "But we don't know for sure because of a lack of proof to confirm."

"What do you mean, Daphne?" asked the girl named Tori.

"We didn't see if that boy had the scar," said Daphne. "His bangs were covering his forehead, and I don't think he'd let us find out."

"We'd better sneak away," Harry whispered to Hailey. "We can't let anybody find us."

Hailey nodded in understanding, so the runaways started to sneak past the manor. It ended up becoming a bit of a challenge because the girl named (or at least went by) Tori was walking toward the front yard of the manor. As Harry and Hailey continued their attempt to sneak past, Hailey stepped on a twig, making it snap. The runaways stopped when the girl named Tori perked up and checked her surroundings. Once Tori went back to doing what she planned to do, Harry and Hailey quietly blew sighs of relief and tried to sneaking off again, but this time Harry was the one who stepped on a twig and made it snap. Tori perked up once more and checked her surroundings, but she thought that maybe an animal must've been wandering around and went back to her activity. After waiting for like a minute or so, Harry and Hailey attempted to sneak away once more. Once again it seemed like fate was turning against them because Hailey sneezed, catching Tori's attention once more.

"Hello," Tori called out, looking toward the trees. "An-Anybody there?"

So she got up and began walking to where she heard the sneeze coming from. Harry and Hailey tensed up, wondering if this was it and that their journey was done for. Still they refused to give up, so they tried another go to sneak away. But it seemed like the girl named Tori was adamant on finding out who sneezed. When it seemed like they had managed to slip by undetected, Harry and Hailey walked toward the edge of the trees, only to get spotted by the girl named Tori this time, making the runaways tense up again.

"Hi, would you like to play?" asked Tori, smiling at the runaways.

"Sorry," said Harry, getting terrified. "T-T-T-Tight sch-schedule, s-s-s-s-soooooo w-w-we best be g-going!"

"Y-Y-Yeah," Hailey stuttered, feeling her paranoia increase. "R-R-Remember, w-w-w-we w-w-weren't h-h-h-h-here!"

So Harry and Hailey turned around and ran away as fast as possible (unaware that they had upset Tori), terrified that they would get followed. Tori was impressed with the speed they were running, but it didn't stop her tears from welling up in her eyes. Sadly, Tori walked back to the front yard and sat down with her back against a tree. Then she brought her knees up to her chest, resting her arms on them and buried her face into her arms as she cried.

"I ju-ust a-a-asked the-em i-if they wanted to-oo p-p-p-pla-a-ayyyyyy," Tori sobbed into her arms. "I thou-ou-ought th-ey'd see th-at th-ere wasn't anything to-oo be-ee sca-ared of."

Back at #4 Privet Drive, the Dursleys' absence made the place look abandoned. The phone rang for like half a minute. Then it went to voice message on the answering machine, with the caller speaking as the message was being recorded.

"Vernon," said the caller. "This is Albert Morley, your boss. I've already called you a total of ten times now and you never picked up. As of this moment, you're _FIRED_! We people at Grunnings don't appreciate you just skipping work like that because you have plenty of money. You also won't be getting your job back. Goodbye."

Then Vernon's boss hung up and the answering machine finished the recording. Meanwhile, those searching for Harry and Hailey continued doing so. Arthur, Amelia and Hannah's parents had to work, so they couldn't help out with the search. The Dursleys were still driving around, looking for 'the freak' and his friend. Vernon had no idea that he had been fired from his job at Grunnings. Xander wasn't having any luck trying to track down the bar where Hailey's father would go to.

'Mr. Brandwood must be a slippery one,' Xander deduced. 'It seems like he goes to a different one and that's gonna make it harder to find and confront him.'

Meanwhile, Harry and Hailey reached a road called _A4_ after walking through the trees. They cautiously approached to look for another road to take. They found a dirt road a little east from where they were standing. Unfortunately, a white van was approaching them and started pulling over. Harry and Hailey gasped in horror when they saw it was the Dursleys (accompanied by Dudley's gang members) and they were looking quite triumphant.

"At last, the freak has been found," said Vernon with glee, then he sneered. "Thought you could just run away and make us do all the chores, huh?!"

"And you," said Dudley threateningly, pointing a chubby finger at Hailey. "How dare you make friends with the freak, and freaks don't deserve happiness, nor friends."

"And you will pay the price once the freak has been dealt with." Piers threatened Hailey.

"Now get in." snapped Petunia, motioning with her thumb.

Harry and Hailey refused to obey, instead they turned around and ran back into the trees. This made everybody in the van mad that their orders were ignored.

"GET BACK HERE, NOW!" screamed Marge.

Vernon drove on to find a nearby road, attempting to cut Harry and Hailey off. The runaways were keeping watch silently and once the van was a reasonable distance away, they looked both ways before crossing the street and made a beeline for the dirt road in between two areas of farmland. The Dursleys found another nearby road to turn onto (without knowledge that they were thrown off track once more). They turned onto a road that took them to a farm, assuming the freak and his friend were hiding there. The Dursleys realized too late that they were in deep trouble because the farmer came out with a shotgun (the Dursleys didn't notice a _No Trespassing_ sign nearby in their haste). To make it worse for them, the farmer's wife and farmhands also had firearms in their hands (to ensure that the trespassers couldn't escape).

"Aren't you able to read the No Trespassing signs?" asked the farmer.

"S-S-Sorrryyyyyyy," said Vernon nervously. "W-W-W-We were just looking for a couple kids who a-a-are so d-d-dear to us."

The farmer saw through that, since Vernon was unable to come up with an answer right away. Petunia was as white as a ghost with utter fright. Dudley and his gang looked indifferent while Marge was overconfident. She opened a door, with Ripper walking out.

"Sic 'em, Ripper!" Marge instructed her dog.

Ripper attempted to attack the farmer, his wife and their farmhands. Marge realized that this wasn't the right choice because Ripper was shot several times. Then the dog fell to the ground, dead. One of the farmer's children had witnessed the Dursleys trespassing and called the police. Marge even foolishly stepped out to attack the farmer personally, only to be stopped by gunpoint.

"Don't... even… think… about it!" warned the farmer in a dangerous voice.

Marge reluctantly obeyed and so did the other Dursleys and Dudley's gang. They were (for the first time ever) looking utterly terrified. Soon, several police cars showed up and arrested the extremely-frightened Dursleys and Dudley's friends. The van was also subsequently taken to an impound, much to Vernon's shock. Meanwhile, Harry and Hailey kept running north and found a river called _River Kennet_ , as mentioned on a nearby sign.

"I thought we'd never find another river." said Hailey with relief in her voice.

"Me, too," said Harry, also with relief in his voice. "Maybe this will keep the Dursleys off our trail for good."

"If they find us again, it'll make it worse for us." said Hailey, shuddering at the thought.

"Especially if they tried to tell the police our descriptions," said Harry. "That's too awful to imagine."

So the runaways continued to follow River Kennet east. They were unaware of the Dursleys and Dudley's gang getting arrested. So Harry and Hailey continued on, with the river passing under a few bridges in a couple towns, but otherwise they weren't spotted by anybody (the police especially). As they continued following the river, Harry and Hailey spotted a train passing by and they smiled when they remembered hopping one the day after leaving Little Whinging. At the same time the two runaways blushed because of waking up to seeing their arms around each other. Soon it was time for a lunch break, so Harry and Hailey stopped to eat.

(Line break)

Back at the manor where Daphne and Tori lived, their mother called them (and Tracey) inside for lunch. Tori was still upset that the boy believed to be Harry Potter and his friend ran off.

"Tori, sweetie," said her mother. "What's the matter?"

"Well," Tori began explaining, with her eyes still welled up with tears. "A little while ago, I saw a couple kids walking by. They were the ones who Daphne and Tracey saw yesterday, the boy had untidy black hair and the girl accompanying him had light brown hair. I tried to make friends with them, but they turned around and ran away. Their speed was impressive, but I don't understand why they reacted the way they did. I wasn't gonna hurt them."

"The black haired boy could've been Harry Potter, mum." said Daphne. "But neither Tracey nor I found any evidence to confirm it."

"We even tried not to spook those kids when Daphne was over at my house, but it turned out to be extremely difficult," stated Tracey. "They still panicked and ran away."

"At least you tried," said Daphne and Tori's mother, then she turned back to Tori. "Don't take it personal, sweetie. Those kids are probably terrified that everybody is out to get them. They're probably grateful to you for your efforts deep down, but they likely don't know who to turn to for help."

"Well, okay. Maybe I can try again if they ever do come back this way." said Tori as she started calming down, then she went to eat her lunch.

Meanwhile, Harry and Hailey finished their lunch and resumed their journey. Eventually, they reached another city, so Harry got out the magical map to check the name.

"According to the map, this city is called Newbury." said Harry.

"Passing through will be a bit of a challenge," Hailey realized. "Even if we continue following the river."

"Yeah," said Harry as he continued scanning the map. "Finding a way around the city will be even more harder to try. Looks like we'll need to continue following River Kennet."

"Yeah, it seems to be our only option." said Hailey.

So she and Harry continued on, being careful where they walked. It _was_ a challenge because there were more bridges to pass under, some parking lots were close to the river and even some streets were close. That made it more difficult to pass through without attracting unwanted attention. On three occasions, Harry and Hailey were forced to hide at the sound of approaching vehicles, especially police cars. Somehow, they managed to make it through the city despite several close calls. Harry and Hailey blew sighs of relief and kept following River Kennet. There was a split in the river, so Harry got out the map once more to find a better route.

"If we were to continue east, we'll pass by another city called Thatcham," said Harry, examining the map. "And we've already experienced several near hits."

"Then, we shall take the southeast route," said Hailey. "It'll keep us away from the city."

So the runaways did just that. That part of River Kennet brought them close to the city, but then led them away once more. Harry and Hailey continued on for a while longer, then River Kennet eventually rejoined into one bigger river, right close by another town called _Theale_ , which was next to a city called _Reading_. Harry and Hailey passed by a lake as they kept following the river, but then it began cutting through the city, putting the runaways in another quandary.

"Krud!" exclaimed Hailey. "Is fate trying to put an end to our journey?"

"I don't know, Hailey," said Harry as he examined the magical map once more. "This city is a bit bigger. River Kennet eventually leads to another river called River Thames."

"We can't follow that river east," said Hailey as she examined the map. "Because it would take us back to… London."

"We'll need to follow River Thames west then," Harry deduced. "I have no intentions to return to the past."

"Me neither," said Hailey. "Otherwise, I'll be forced to face my father's merciless wrath."

The map also revealed that they'd be forced to be within the city limits if they were to continue following River Kennet. It seemed like there was a really good chance that they'll get spotted by a police officer, and if any of them spotted the runaways wandering around on their own. Those thoughts were frightening for Harry and Hailey as it seemed like they could be placed in an orphanage. There didn't seem to be any solutions to their predicament, scaring the runaways a bit more.

"Merlin help us!" Harry and Hailey whispered nervously, at the same time.

To be continued!

 **Author's note 1: I'd like to thank the user 'cornholio4' for suggesting the Dursleys and Dudley's gang getting arrested for trespassing. I had them spot Harry and Hailey first before it happened, but the main idea belongs to cornholio4.**

 **Author's note 2: Well, it seems like Harry and Hailey's journey is possibly coming to an abrupt end. How do they plan to get out of their quandary? Will they actually be found and taken to an orphanage? Will they managed to slip by without attracting attention? Stay tuned to find out in the next chapter.**


	14. Chapter 14

_Disclaimer: As usual, I don't own the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling deserves that honor, I just own the story and OC Hailey. The OC Xander Scamander belongs to Supernova2015. No copyright intended._

Ch. 14

Surprise For The Ministry

Harry and Hailey couldn't think of any solution to their problem (one that could work at least). Due to how big the city of _Reading_ was, it was an almost 100% guarantee that they'd get caught by police and taken to an orphanage. While pondering over their thoughts, Harry and Hailey also couldn't stop thinking about the girl named Tori asking them if they wanted to play.

"If I'd known how difficult this part of our journey was going to be," said Harry. "I wouldn't have turned down that girl Tori's offer to play with her."

"Yeah, me too," said Hailey. "In spite of our determination to stay away from anybody, I do admit that maybe it wouldn't have hurt to take a little break from our journey. Maybe that girl Tori would've been fun to be around."

"But unfortunately, it's too late to go back," said Harry, rather reluctantly. "The Dursleys could find us again with much more ease."

"Passing through Reading will be much harder than passing through Newbury and Thatcham combined," said Hailey. "It was hard enough passing through those two cities."

Harry and Hailey started feeling guilty over the possibility of having made Tori cry. They weren't trying to be jerks, but they were too paranoid that they believed anybody could try to turn them in for a reward. They also admitted that Tori had a nice smile (not to mention that she even had something like a bubbly personality). But Harry did have a point, it was too late to go back and reconsider the offer. Not only that, but their current situation was worse than possibly (and accidentally) making a girl cry. If Harry and Hailey didn't come up with a solution soon, then their journey was bound to come to an end.

"Maybe we need to backtrack a little and find a different way to River Thames." suggested Harry.

"That is probably bound to be a somewhat easier solution," said Hailey. "Let's give it a try."

So the runaways backtracked some to find another route to River Thames. They made it to just outside the city limits of Theale, so Harry checked the map to look for any routes.

"There is a river called River Pang," said Harry. "That might help us get to River Thames."

"If we followed it to the east, it will lead us to another town called Pangbourne," said Hailey. "Maybe we should follow it west."

So the runaways made a beeline for _River Pang_. They were outside of a town called _Bradfield_ when they came across the river. It turned out to be leading them away from River Thames, but Harry and Hailey didn't care, as long as they were least likely to be spotted. Once another town came into plain view, Harry checked their magical map and saw that the town was called _Bucklebury_.

"Shall we travel north?" asked Hailey.

"Might as well," said Harry. "The Dursleys could be anywhere, so we need to avoid going west for a bit."

This turned out to be a good idea because there were some trees that allowed the runaways to hide if it was needed. Soon, they saw a highway with part of it built over a bridge. Harry and Hailey ran like heck toward the bridge and under it, leading them to a settlement that looked smaller than a village. The map revealed it to be called _Burnt Hill_.

"Burnt Hill?" said Harry, checking the settlement. "It looks fine to me. I don't see any indication of a fire having broken out once."

"Me neither," said Hailey. "Maybe it should be called Clean Hill or Green Hill."

The runaways laughed at their joke and continued on. Meanwhile, the Weasleys, Longbottoms, Lovegoods, Remus, Susan, Hannah and Hannah's parents continued the search for the runaways. It was becoming a hassle to keep at it, but they thought about continuing a little while longer. They were fifteen miles east of Bristol when they came across a tall man, who could be a half-giant.

"Hagrid," greeted Molly, Remus, Augusta, Xenophilius and Hannah's parents. "Are you looking for who we are looking for?"

"As a matter of fact, yes," said the man named Hagrid. "Minerva told me about viewing memories of Harry Potter and how many people are looking for him and his friend."

"Did Minerva say what his friend's name was?" asked Remus.

"Yeah," said Hagrid. "Some girl named Hailey. Minerva even told me about viewing her memories. Her memories and Harry's were brought to Albus' office by a man named Xander Scamander."

"Ah!" said the adults at the same time.

"That's another step closer," said Molly. "Now we just need some proof to confirm that Harry is the black haired boy who Ginny, Luna, Neville, Susan and Hannah have spotted after all."

"But, be warned Hagrid, those two kids are fast runners," stated Augusta. "Neville, Hannah and Susan tried to catch up to them without success. Even when Amelia, Lord and Lady Abbott, as well as myself tried to help out, it was still a futile attempt."

"And it won't be a good idea to corner the runaway kids, even if it's our intentions to help them," stated Remus. "Otherwise, it would more than likely spook them into running away once more."

They all agreed with Remus, so they continued the search. Meanwhile, Harry and Hailey made it to two villages next to each other. Upon checking the map, they were just a little south of the village called _Streatley_ and across a bridge stood the other village called _Goring_. There was a river going under the bridge that acted like a split in between the two villages. Harry and Hailey were relieved that the river was River Thames.

"Let's try going around Streatley first," suggested Hailey. "Before we try to follow River Thames north."

"That may not be a quick solution," said Harry as he continued examining the map. "It will flow through several villages. Let's try going west for a while and then northwest to see if we can find another part of River Thames. There are more trees to hide in if we do that."

"Okay." said Hailey.

While doing so, Harry and Hailey had to walk around certain areas. Some of the land happened to be made up of golf courses, due to flags and small sand pits. Some farmland had plowed dirt, with Harry and Hailey resisting the temptation to run across it. They knew it wasn't an option due to the fact that the farmer who owned it would know if somebody ran across it because of footsteps the runaways would leave behind. Harry and Hailey also realized that going west, for the most part was a better option for now, even if it went on until the next day. They eventually reached what they thought was a dirt road, but it turned out to be where train tracks once had been. This was evident when Harry found an old, rusted railroad spike and picked it up.

"The lack of trees," said Hailey as she looked all around. "Staying hidden is gonna be pretty hard."

"We could try following the path of the past train tracks," said Harry. "And maybe we can find another bunch of trees that are easier to hide in."

So they did just that, but Harry and Hailey opted to run as fast as possible. If they were caught, who knows what could happen to them. They were able to reach a bridge that the railroad once passed under. Harry and Hailey stopped once they were under the bridge, so they could catch their breath and drink some water.

"Shall we continue following the old railroad path," asked Harry. "Or shall we find a different route?"

"Let's follow the old railroad path a little while longer," said Hailey. "Maybe if we find another road, we can take that one."

"Sounds good," said Harry. "Shall we run like heck again?"

"Might as well," said Hailey. "If we don't wanna get caught."

After they finished catching their breath and drinking some water, the two runaways got ready for another fast run. This time, they decided to have a little fun while they ran. Hailey was in the lead with Harry trying to catch up. Then he tagged Hailey and took the lead, then Hailey would try to catch up. Anytime they'd tag each other, they'd start laughing some and then continue their game. When they reached a road, Harry and Hailey decided on going southwest. They checked for any vehicles, luckily there weren't any so the runaways, once more ran like heck. Upon spotting a dirt road going northwest, Harry and Hailey continued going southwest. Once they were far from the road, Harry and Hailey slowed down into a jog speed. When they stopped to catch their breath again, Harry and Hailey could hear vehicles speeding by. Harry got out their magical map to check for any better routes.

"We're close by a highway called A34," said Harry. "And there is a dirt road simply called The Ridgeway."

"We can check out that road tomorrow," said Hailey as she looked at her watch. "It's already a quarter after 4 PM."

"Yeah, I guess we shall set the tent up." said Harry.

Once they were within the trees, Harry and Hailey got the tent out and set it up. All that running caused the runaways to sweat, which they learned in primary school that sweating was good for you. This also made them exhausted, with Harry and Hailey believing that they would be sleeping like logs tonight. The sweating also resulted in body odour, also resulting in the runaways showering. Hailey went first since Harry was adamant on the ladies first policy. Once he finished showering, Harry went to the kitchen to fix dinner. After they finished eating, Hailey got the stereo set up.

"You wanting to dance again, Hailey?" asked Harry.

"Yeah," said Hailey. "Just thought dancing to some music before bed would help us sleep better."

Harry got ready to dance with Hailey, even before she gave him puppy dog eyes. As they danced, Harry and Hailey were laughing and smiling at each other like a couple of kids enjoying something they had in common. It was a quarter after 7 PM when Harry and Hailey decided to call it quits for the night. Their running like heck several times combined with dancing made them that exhausted. They were asleep within fifteen minutes or so.

(Line break)

Meanwhile at the Ministry of Magic, a dark skin auror was looking through files of various documents when he noticed a glow coming from one of the folders. Upon picking it up, he saw that it was a file that kept records of elopements, mostly from teen or child wizards and witches. He opened the folder and looked through the documents and noticed two new names on page twelve of the elopement records.

"This can't be, can it?" the auror asked himself, gobsmacked.

He saw that the two new names were **Harry James Potter** and **Hailey Katrina Brandwood** , which baffled the auror even more.

'How can this be?' thought the auror. 'Harry and this Hailey, eloped? Amelia needs to see this.'

So the auror took the folder with him over to Amelia's office. He knew it needed to be done quickly, since their respective shifts were almost over for the day. On his way there, he accidentally ran into the woman in discussion.

"Kingsley," greeted Amelia. "Is there something going on?"

"This elopement folder," said the auror named Kingsley. "Two new names have been added to the list."

He handed the folder to Amelia, who then looked over the documents. Amelia's eyes widened in bewilderment when she saw not only Harry's name, but also the name next to it. The date next to the names said _September 29, 1989_ , which meant that was the date the elopement happened. Amelia also came to realize that this must've been the date they ran away.

"Another clue figured out," said Amelia. "Augusta and Molly told me a little while ago that Hagrid was helping out and that he even mentioned that Harry's friend's name was Hailey."

"We're getting closer to figuring out that the boy who ran away _was_ Harry after all," said Kingsley. "If this Hailey and Harry eloped, then they ran away together. Arthur was telling me what all was going on during our lunch break."

"Yeah, Susan and I tried helping out with looking for the runaways," said Amelia. "Something tells me that Ginny will be heartbroken once she learns that Harry eloped."

"Pretty much," agreed Kingsley. "She'll have to find out sooner or later."

(Two days later)

It was Wednesday, November 1st. Since the day before was the day Harry's parents were murdered, he and Hailey decided to spend the day in the tent. It was a quarter after 6:00 AM when the runaways finished breakfast, packed the tent up (with Hailey applying makeup over Harry's scar and resuming their journey). They followed the road that was simply called _The Ridgeway_ , which even led them under the bridge that freeway _A34_ went over. They reached what looked like a parking lot of some sort. Since it was still morning, there wasn't any vehicle parked there, but that didn't stop Harry and Hailey from jogging. After a while of jogging, they came across another (but smaller) parking lot. There was another bunch of trees they could walk through, but then they spotted a sign pointing them to something called _Scutchamer Knob_. Harry and Hailey continued following the road instead, until they eventually spotted another road that intersected with the road they were following. Harry got out the magical map to find the name of the road, which the name of was called _Coldharbour Rd_.

"Shall we take that road or continue following the Ridgeway?" asked Harry.

"Maybe we should follow Coldharbour road north." said Hailey.

So they did just that since there were trees around that could allow them to hide if necessary. They walked northeast some, right by some more plowed farmland. They eventually began going north, doing their best to avoid trekking across plowed dirt. Upon spotting another town, Hailey got out their magical map to find out the name of it.

"According to the map," said Hailey as she examined it. "The town is called Hendred, an east and a west end."

"We probably should go around it," said Harry as he looked at the map. "Around it to the west would be the better option. We'll be least likely to get spotted that way."

So Harry and Hailey continued on and went around _West Hendred_. They managed to slip past two more towns, one called _Steventon_ and the other called _Drayton_. Harry and Hailey were just northwest to another village called _Sutton Courtenay_ when they spotted a river.

"It's River Thames," said Hailey when she got their map out and checked it. "Our efforts to find it really paid off."

So they followed the river for a bit. Then they checked the map once more as soon as another city came into plain view.

"The city is called Oxford," said Harry upon checking it. "If we continue following River Thames, it'll increase the odds of us getting caught."

"We may need to backtrack," said Hailey. "We could find another part of the river and follow it."

After backtracking for a while, they came back to the area where they saw River Thames. They were just outside the city limits of _Abington_. Once they were safe, they started going northwest once more. It was going to take a little longer than anticipated to find a river that wouldn't flow through any city all that much.

 _To be continued!_

 **Author's note: Well, so far so good. Harry and Hailey have narrowly avoided a possible capture. Will they be able to make it or will they get caught? Stay tuned to find out more.**


	15. Chapter 15

_Disclaimer: As usual, I just own the fanfic and OC Hailey. The OC Xander Scamander belongs to Supernova2015. The rest belongs to J.K. Rowling. No copyright intended!_

 **Warning: Drunk moments later in this chapter. Readers discretion is advised.**

Ch. 15

Xander's Moment Of Triumph

Harry and Hailey continued on, but as it turned out, there was another stream the runaways found that they could follow for a bit. Harry checked the map to find out the name.

"According to the map," said Harry. "This stream is called Sandford Brook. It leads to a river called River Ock, if we follow the brook south."

"If we follow River Ock west," said Hailey as she examined the map. "We won't have to worry too much about going through any of the big cities."

"Yeah," agreed Harry. "Maybe it'll lead to another bigger river eventually."

As the runaways continued on, Xander was continuing his mission of locating Hailey's father. He had been trying to do so ever since he left Hogwarts following the conclusion of showing the memories to Professor Dumbledore. Xander groaned in exasperation when he still had no luck in finding Mr. Brandwood.

"This guy is crazy," said Xander to himself. "He has no intention of facing the consequences, but he'll need to sooner or later."

Meanwhile Remus, the Weasleys and the Lovegoods were continuing their search for Harry. It was becoming almost pointless to continue, since after all the runaways could be miles and miles away. They all had no choice but to give up the search, much to Ginny's disappointment. Upon making it back to the Burrow, Arthur spotted Kingsley waiting by the front door.

"Kingsley," Arthur greeted. "What brings you here?"

"Well, I found out something unexpected the other day," said Kingsley. "You know about the folder that keeps track of the elopements between wizards and witches?"

"Yes," said Arthur. "The last one, if I remember right happened like 200 years ago or something."

"Well, the elopement folder was glowing while I was going through some documents on Monday," said Kingsley. "When I checked it, I saw that two more names were added to the list."

"Which ones?" asked Arthur.

"Well, Harry's name was one of them," Kingsley informed. "The other was Hailey Katrina Brandwood."

"Really?" asked Arthur, wondering if he heard right. "Harry's friend's name is Hailey, and they eloped?"

"Yes," said Kingsley. "The date they eloped said September 29, 1989, which Amelia and I guessed was the day they ran away, when I showed it to her."

As predicted, Ginny freaked out and ran inside up to her room, locking her bedroom door after slamming it shut. Then she collapsed on her bed (on her stomach), buried her face into her arms and began crying.

"It's not fair," Ginny sobbed. "It's _just_ not fair!"

Ginny felt that it was the end of the world for her, believing that her dreams of eventually marrying Harry were crushed. Meanwhile, Harry and Hailey followed River Ock for a bit before coming across some trees next to some farmland. The runaways continued following the river, hoping they could find another stream or river to follow. They continued through trees upon trees and eventually another town came up.

"This small town is called Fernham," said Harry, upon pulling the map out and looking over it. "There's a city up north some called Faringdon."

"It could be too risky," said Hailey. "Maybe we should continue northwest, that way we'd be least likely to attract unwanted attention."

"Okay," agreed Harry. "Maybe there are some more trees we can hide in and hopefully find another river."

So they kept on going northwest. There _really_ were more trees to walk through, allowing the runaways a better chance of avoiding trouble. After lunch, they continued on and came across some wide open fields. After a while, they came across a river, which was a relief to them. Harry brought the map out again to find out the name of it.

"It's River Thames," said Harry. "According to the map, we won't have to worry too much about going through any towns or cities."

So he and Hailey followed the river west. It also led them north a little bit until another small town came into plain view. This got the runaways into a mild quandary, but luckily Hailey spotted a smaller river that was called _River Cole_ , relieving the two. So Harry and Hailey followed that river, wondering where that one will lead to. They came across something of a split and took the way going north and eventually west. They reached River Thames once more, so they followed it south (which eventually started going west). Harry and Hailey eventually reached a small town called _Kempsford_ , which made them tense up some. The runaways ran some so they wouldn't get spotted easily. Not long after that, Harry and Hailey spotted a village that was called _Castle Eaton_ , as mentioned on the map. Even though the river was close to the village, there were some trees that allowed the runaways a chance to sneak by. Upon spotting another split in the river that was going south, Harry brought the map out again and looked over it to see where that river would lead to.

"The river going south is called River Ray," stated Harry. "If we were to follow it, it'll eventually lead to a big city called Swindon."

"We can't follow that river," said Hailey. "A city that big especially will result in us getting taken to an orphanage if we get caught."

So she and Harry continued following River Thames, which eventually led to another small town called _Cricklade_. There were plenty more trees for the runaways to hide in while they could slip by undetected. Harry and Hailey eventually spotted another city called _Ashton Keynes_ coming into plain view (when they reached another split in the river), which put them in another quandary.

"I wonder how we'll slip through this city," said Hailey. "It seems like this'll increase the odds of police officers spotting us."

"Well," said Harry, getting the map out again to look for another route. "We could follow this river southwest. It'll have more trees that will help us stay hidden."

"Alright, let's follow that river." said Hailey.

That's just what they did, they took the river going southwest. They continued following it and started going northwest, hoping they'll be able to come across River Thames again. Harry and Hailey still made sure to stay away from any building, so they would sometimes go west a little ways. Meanwhile, Xander was continuing his investigation in locating Mr. Brandwood (at least where he lived). Xander was at St. Grogery's Primary School talking with the headmistress, Miss Maples, in hopes that she could give him some leads.

"Would you tell me where I can possibly find Mr. Brandwood?" asked Xander, being as polite as possible. "He seems to go to random locations every single day."

"Well," said Miss Maples with some hesitancy in her voice. She was still feeling guilty for accepting the bribes from the Dursleys. "His residence is in Little Whinging of Surrey, on Eastwood Boulevard. Like Mr. Harry Potter, Miss Hailey Brandwood was treated like an outcast here because of having some bruises on her face. According to Ms. Zimmers the librarian, Miss Brandwood would sometimes roll the sleeves of her school shirt up and rub certain areas of her arm like she was in some kind of pain. Ms. Zimmers will give you some more information on that matter, all I have is second hand information."

"Thank you very much," said Xander, writing notes down. "I'll speak with her immediately."

So Xander headed for the library. Ms. Zimmers was going over some paperwork when he walked in. The librarian looked up in surprise when she heard the door open.

"May I help you?" asked Ms. Zimmers.

"Yes," stated Xander. "I'm investigating the mystery behind the two students who ran away about five weeks ago."

"Oh, yes," said Ms. Zimmers. "Harry Potter and Hailey Brandwood were the ones who must've ran away."

She showed Xander the farewell notes that Harry and Hailey wrote. The librarian kept them with her just in case if there was somebody who might investigate. Xander looked at them in surprise when he realized that Harry and Hailey weren't totally unpopular.

"Those two were so helpful helping out," said Ms. Zimmers. "Occasionally I'd listen to them talking about how horrible their lives were. Many times I wanted to tell Miss Maples, but the only reason I couldn't was because of having heard of the other teachers who tried to help Harry especially getting put on a blacklist."

"I see," said Xander, writing more notes down. "The Dursleys are already in enough hot water because of myself having found out where they lived. I haven't seen them for a while now, but I'm searching for Hailey's father at the moment. Miss Maples already told me where he lives. Is there anything else you heard Harry and Hailey discuss?"

"Miss Brandwood would confide to Harry about how she was terrified to go home," said Ms. Zimmers. "And Mr. Potter did the same by telling her about how he was treated like a slave, used as a human punching bag and locked in a cupboard quite frequently. One day I heard them discussing plans to run away and never return, which I thought was a joke at first because I also believed that there was bound to be somebody who wouldn't accept bribes. It didn't seem to be quick enough to prevent them from running away."

"Don't beat yourself up on this," said Xander. "I'm continuing my mission to investigate. The Dursleys are bound to face justice, if they haven't already. Now Mr. Brandwood needs to do the same. Thank you for your time, Ms. Zimmers."

"You're welcome and good luck." said Ms. Zimmers.

"Thank you very much." said Xander.

Once he finished jotting down the rest of the notes, Xander left the library and checked his watch. It was close to lunchtime, so he went to find a good restaurant to eat lunch at. Meanwhile, Harry and Hailey were just finishing up their snack and were just getting ready to resume their journey. As the two runaways continued following River Thames, they spotted what looked like a resort of some sort.

"Man, it seems like following River Thames is plagued with interruptions," said Hailey when she spotted the river running through the resort. "What are we gonna do?"

"There's a road going over some land that's splitting those two lakes," said Harry, pointing in the direction. "We can jog across it."

So that's what they did, Harry and Hailey began jogging over to the road that was going over the land splitting the lake in two. Once they made it, Harry and Hailey jogged into the trees and waited a few minutes to make sure they didn't get spotted. There were more bunches of trees to hide in, allowing the runaways to slip by undetected. They finally reached a city called _Somerford Keynes_ , according to their map. River Thames was going under a bridge, allowing Harry and Hailey to make a beeline for it to continue following the river. Anytime they'd come back out into the open, Harry and Hailey would run like heck and once they were back in the trees, they'd take a break to catch their breath before continuing. When the runaways reached a town, Harry got out the map again to find out the name.

"This town is called Ewen." said Harry. "There are still some trees around the river. But there'll be some moments where we'll be out in the open again."

"That's when we'll need to run fast, otherwise we'll get caught." said Hailey.

So the runaways continued to follow River Thames and pretty soon, they reached the source of the river. There happened to be a hiking trail called _Wysis Way_ , which was a relief for Harry and Hailey (especially when they found out that the trail even went through some more trees). The trail even passed under a bridge with a highway going over it, which was one of those times that Harry and Hailey had to run. They were unaware that they were somewhat spotted by a police officer (who only caught a brief glimpse of the runaways). The officer was on patrol when he spotted what he thought were two kids wandering around without an adult. Since he didn't get a good look at them, the officer just shrugged and went back to his job.

"Maybe I need to take some time off." the police officer told himself.

Meanwhile, Xander reached Eastwood Boulevard and found a hiding spot near the house where Hailey lived with her father. Xander was outraged that Mr. Brandwood was just getting out of his vehicle and walking up to the front door and trying to unlock it while drunk. The intoxicated poor excuse for a father broke the key in the lock for the door handle and he began throwing a drunken temper tantrum over the issue.

"How did thith happen?" ranted Mr. Brandwood. "Firtht my… _hic_ … daughter runth away from… _hic_ … home and continueth to do tho and now my key bre… _hic_ … akth off. Hailey will be… _hic_... ee in tho much trouble whe… _hic_ … en that thupid girl ge… _hic_ … eth home.

Xander couldn't believe what he just heard. Mr. Brandwood was unaware that several more people heard him rant (due to being drunk). Somebody called the police while Xander continued to keep watch over the drunken man in his tantrum.

"I thould've kicked that thupid… _hic_ … girl outta the houthe in da thirtht plathe," Mr. Brandwood continued his rant, oblivious that more and more of his neighbors were paying attention to him. "Been nothi… _hic_ … ing but trouble. I thoulda jutht douthed… _hic_ … her in gatholine and… _hic_ … lit her body on fire from the thtart. That thupid girl thould now realithe… _hic_ … that thingth would've bee… _hic_ … een better off if fee wath never born. Alwayth ruining my life abd… _hic_ … taking up too much of… _hic_ … my damn time."

The countless number of witnesses were horrified that the intoxicated man wished his own daughter dead. Some of the students who went to St. Grogery's Primary School were some of the witnesses. They realized that Harry Potter wasn't the only student abused by relatives, but Hailey Brandwood was another one to suffer a similar experience. They even figured out that that must've been the reason why she wasn't afraid to be around Harry when the two still came to school. All too soon, some sirens were heard in the distance (with Mr. Brandwood unaware of the reasons why). When the police finally arrived, Xander and the countless witnesses explained what all they heard Mr. Brandwood say in his intoxicated state.

"Can I help you officerth?" asked Mr. Brandwood as soon as he noticed, still intoxicated.

"Yes Mr. Brandwood," said the police chief. "You are under arrest for driving while under the influence, child abuse, child neglect and child endangerment."

"How can that… _hic…_ be tho?" asked Mr. Brandwood drunkenly.

"I'll explain it," said the police chief irritably. "Child abuse means to attack a child with anything, not just physically but also verbally and emotionally. Child neglect means to fail in your duty as a parent to give proper care to your child. As for child endangerment, that's anything like threatening to kick them out into the streets or allowing other forms of abuse to happen."

Mr. Brandwood glared at the police chief. As a police officer tried to arrest him, the drunken poor excuse for a father headbutted one and punched one across the face. This resulted in another officer tasing the deranged intoxicated man, allowing another officer to finally arrest him.

"Okay Mr. Brandwood," said the police chief. "You're now charged with resisting arrest and assault and battery on two officers."

More officers had to hold the intoxicated man down in order to have his hands placed behind his back and into handcuffs. Mr. Brandwood was struggling to free himself, but it was no use because he was already in handcuffs.

"Now Mr. Brandwood," said the police chief, as the still intoxicated man was pulled onto his feet. "You do not have to say anything, but it may be harm your defence in court. Anything you do say can and will be given in evidence."

As Mr. Brandwood was taken away and into custody, some of the other police officers started asking the witnesses questions regarding the ordeal. Xander and some of the other officers went inside the house to look for some evidence that could give them some more clues.

 _To be continued!_

 **Author's note 1: There had to be at least one time into their journey where Harry and Hailey almost get caught. This chapter was also pretty difficult to write, particularly with Hailey's father drunkenly wishing her dead. Now that he's been arrested, Harry and Hailey will soon be facing their respective so-called families in court. What will happen then? Will Harry and Hailey get caught or will they still evade? Read on to find out.**

 **Author's note 2: I'd like to thank the user 'cornholio4' for suggesting that Hailey's father get confronted by the police upon being given evidence that he implicates himself and assaulting some of the police officers before getting arrested.**


	16. Chapter 16

_Disclaimer: As mentioned before, I just own this fanfic and OC Hailey. The OC Xander Scamander belongs to Supernova2015 while J.K. Rowling owns the rest. No copyright intended!_

 **Ch. 16**

 **Difficulties Becoming More Frequent?**

Meanwhile, Harry and Hailey continued walking along the path. They saw that Wysis Path was cutting through a town called _Sapperton_. The runaways were forced to try and go around the town, just so a police officer was least likely to spot them. Hailey got the map out to find another part of Wysis Way Path that wasn't anywhere near any building. There was a nature reserve called _Siccaridge Wood_ where the path cut through, in which Harry and Hailey started following the path west southwest. A little while later, Harry checked the map to look for more out-of-the-way routes (as they were outside of a town called Chalford). Upon hearing a train horn go off in the distance, Harry put the map as he and Hailey nodded to each other.

"Maybe we should take another chance and hop the train," said Harry. "If the Dursleys are still close by, the train will help us put more distance between them."

"Okay," agreed Hailey. "We just have to hope my father isn't close by either."

"Yeah," said Harry. "He could very well do something to me and he's bound to assume that I've been a bad influence on you."

Upon sliding down closer to the tracks, the runaways managed to hide behind some trees. It wouldn't do any good for any train engineer to spot two kids without parents or guardians. The train they spotted was heading west, relieving Harry and Hailey some since they didn't have to worry about backtracking. Harry and Hailey waited to find a freight that wasn't so close to the train engines, just so no engineer could spot them easily. Once they felt certain they wouldn't get spotted, Harry and Hailey emerged from their hiding spot and made a beeline for a freight car. They ran for approximately five minutes when Harry managed to grab a hold of an open door to hoist himself in. Once he was in, Harry held one of his hands out while holding onto a handle with his other hand. After some difficulty, Harry managed to grab a hold of Hailey's hand to help pull her up into the freight car. Once they were safe inside, the runaways blew sighs of relief. Somehow, some kind of magic allowed them to make it (as they were mentally wishing that they could make it inside of a freight car and it happened). So Harry and Hailey waited a little bit to see where the train would lead them. Some time later, the train slowed down and made the kids go on full alert.

"Shoot," whispered Harry as he peeked out an open door briefly. "We'd better stay hidden in the shadows."

"Okay," said Hailey. "What town or city are we in?"

Harry got the map out to check, with some magic lighting it up to make it readable. According to the map, the city the train had stopped in was called _Stonehouse_ , then Harry put the map away. Harry and Hailey slinked further into the shadows when they heard footsteps approaching the car where they were hiding in. They held their breath while the engineers were checking the load, to ensure that they wouldn't get spotted and subsequently thrown out, or worse get taken to a police station and _then_ an orphanage. After what seemed like an eternity, the engineers were finished with inspecting the cars. Harry and Hailey again blew sighs of relief. Then the train started up again just as Harry and Hailey scooted closer to the doors to look out and wait to jump out once the train left the city and back out in the country. They spotted another town upon peeking out a second time, but the runaways opted to wait a little while longer to see if this would lead them to more wide open country. Harry and Hailey were on the outside of a large city when they decided that it was the time to jump out and land in the grass, making sure to somersault to reduce the chance of getting an injury. Harry and Hailey decided to lay down in their spots and watch the train continue it's journey. The runaways blew sighs of relief once more with the realization that they still managed to slip by undetected and they had a good laugh. Harry got the map out once more to find another route and upon checking it, he saw that the city they were just outside of was called _Gloucester_.

"Wow, another river to follow called River Severn." said Hailey, pointing to the river on the map.

"There's also a walking path close by called Three Choirs Way." said Harry.

"If we follow the river while walking the path," said Hailey. "We'll be able to stay closer to the trees. That way if we hear anybody talking and/or walking, we can just hide within the trees and wait for them to pass."

"Yeah," said Harry, as he looked over the map. "The roundabout has more trees surrounding it, and River Severn has a smaller river called River Leadon. Maybe we could make a beeline for that river and follow it."

"That's a better option," agreed Hailey. "It seems like we may need to swim across to get there."

"Krud," said Harry. "I never got to learn how to swim!"

"Me neither," said Hailey. "Looks like we need life jackets if we wanna make it across."

All of a sudden, Harry and Hailey felt their backpacks getting something to appear inside. Upon looking, the runaways actually saw life jackets inside, surprising them. Then they started making a beeline for River Severn and spotted River Leadon (which had a grass bridge going over it). Once they got their life jackets out and put them on (making sure they were strapped and secured tightly), Harry and Hailey began walking out toward the water (they could feel their shoes and socks getting soaked. They also felt their respective pairs of trousers and parts of their shirts getting soaked because it was waist deep where they were standing). After getting prepared, the runaways started their swim toward River Leadon the best they could. They knew their life jackets would keep them afloat, so they didn't have to worry about the possibility of drowning. Sometimes in primary school, their respective teachers would put movies on for the class to watch (and some of them showed characters swimming). Even with life jackets, swimming in everyday clothes was a bit tiring (as wet clothes tend to weigh someone down a little), but it wasn't something Harry and Hailey couldn't handle. Having been away from Little Whinging for the last six weeks or so allowed the runaways to get good exercise. Once they made it to River Leadon, the runaways stopped by a shore next to the river to rest a little. Upon getting out, Harry and Hailey were dripping and soaking wet with river water, which was also making them shiver some.

"I-I don't th-think we've swam or ran through a river e-ever s-s-s-since crossing p-p-paths with your uncle's sister, who tried s-s-s-siccing that v-v-v-v-v-vicious dog on us." Hailey stuttered, with her teeth chattering because of being soaking wet.

"Y-Y-Yeah," Harry stuttered, also with his teeth chattering due to still being soaking wet. "B-B-But a-a-a-at l-l-l-le-east we-e won't h-h-h-have to w-w-w-w-worry about th-th-that th-th-this t-t-time."

Harry and Hailey began desperately (and mentally) wishing themselves dry. Suddenly, their clothes were all dry as if they hadn't swam through the river at all. Even their hair and life jackets dried off. This left the runaways surprised, making them wonder how them drying off happened. After putting their life jackets back in their respective backpacks, Harry and Hailey started following River Leadon upstream.

Meanwhile, Xander and the other police officers were still investigating the house where Hailey and her father lived. There wasn't much to find and Xander got a hunch that Mr. Brandwood more than likely destroyed all (or at least most of) the evidence. The other officers weren't having any better luck, as they too realized that getting Mr. Brandwood convicted was bound to take alot more investigating than they believed.

(4:30 PM)

Back at the Burrow, Molly tried calling Ginny down for dinner for the third time before going up to her bedroom door. Ginny hadn't left her room for lunch and she still refused to come out (the only times she left were to use the bathroom). Arthur came up and stopped right beside Molly outside Ginny's room.

"Ginny must be taking the whole Harry eloping with another girl thing harder than we thought." said Molly.

"Pretty much," said Arthur. "We thought she'd get over it, but it doesn't seem to be happening."

"Maybe we should give it more time," said Molly. "But she can't stay in her room forever."

"Yes," agreed Arthur. "In the meantime, we'll need to come up with something on how we'll explain this to Ginny without breaking her heart any further."

"Yes, that's a must," said Molly. "But we'll need to prepare for the opposite at the same time, just in case."

(The next morning, 5:30 AM)

Harry and Hailey woke up and started getting ready for another day of traveling. After finishing their breakfast, the runaways made sure the necessary supplies were in their backpacks (including the life jackets, just in case they needed to swim across a river again). Harry checked the weather instrument and was surprised that it was supposed to warm up some around noon. Nevertheless, he and Hailey still decided to wear long sleeve shirts since they knew that December got colder than November. After Hailey applied makeup over Harry's scar, the runaways walked out of the tent and packed it up. Then they continued following River Leadon upstream. This relieved Harry and Hailey because the river was, for the most part surrounded by trees (allowing them to slip by undetected). The runaways also would find other routes through the trees along the way if there were times they'd come out into plain view. They passed under a few bridges as they continued to follow the river upstream (in which they ran, so no police officer would spot them). Harry and Hailey eventually reached dual bridges (which, according to the map was a highway called M50). The runaways ran faster under those bridges, since they could tell that a countless number of vehicles passed over it.

"I wonder how many more bridges the river passes under." said Hailey as she and Harry stopped to catch their breath.

"Who knows," said Harry. "As long as no vehicle pulls over and the occupants get out and spot us, we'll be fine."

After some more time follow River Leadon upstream, the runaways reached a small town which, according to the map was called _Staplow_. They still continued following the river and saw that the river ran through a village. The map revealed it to be called _Bosbury_ , which made Harry and Hailey tense up some due to another bridge going over the river. Somehow, they managed to cross under the bridge without any trouble and without anybody spotting them. A while later, they came across three more bridges (one that, according to the map had another highway going over it, called _A4103_ ). A building close by caused Harry and Hailey to go on full alert (especially when there was some open space that could make it easier for them to get spotted). They made a beeline for the trees to continue following the river, but not before checking to make sure the coast was clear. Once they felt certain of it, Harry and Hailey continued on following River Leadon. When the runaways reached the end of River Leadon, they began going west a little bit before stopping for a lunch break. Harry checked the map to look for another river they could follow.

"There's another river called River Frome," said Harry, while examining the map. "We can follow that river either downstream or upstream."

"We'll have to go west a little bit to reach it," said Hailey as she also looked over the map. "There's some wide open space on the way, so we'll have to be quick."

The map showed a road called _Green Ln_ , in which Harry and Hailey decided to follow it northwest some. Maybe they'd reach River Frome a little quicker that way. As soon as they spotted some more trees to hide in, Harry and Hailey ran toward them. After crossing a couple roads, the runaways made it to River Frome. They decided on following it downstream (since they already followed River Leadon upstream, so they decided to switch between following a river upstream and the next one downstream). River Frome eventually emptied into a bigger river, with Harry getting the map out once more to check the name of the bigger river. It was named _River Lugg_ and the runaways opted to follow that river downstream. This only took ten minutes before they came across an even bigger river. Upon checking the map, Harry saw that it was called _River Wye_ , and it had two ways to go.

"Krud," said Hailey. "Not many trees near the shores of the river. What'll we do now?"

"I don't know," said Harry. "It's gonna take a miracle to slip by, no matter which way we go."

"Regardless, I have no intentions of going back to my abusive life." said Hailey, with determination in her voice.

"Yeah, me too," said Harry, equally determined. "If the Dursleys have bribed their way outta trouble again, Merlin help us."

 _To be continued!_

 **Author's note: Well, Harry and Hailey are in another pickle. How will they get out of it? Will they get found and taken to an orphanage? Will a family (wizard or muggle) find them and take the runaways under their wing? Stay tuned to find out more.**


	17. Chapter 17

_Disclaimer: As usual, all I own is this fanfic and OC Hailey. The OC Xander Scamander belongs to Supernova2015, the rest belongs to J.K. Rowling. No copyright intended!_

 **Ch. 17**

 **Vernon Gets The News**

Vernon, Petunia, Marge, Dudley and his gang were just leaving an impound. They had been released on bail, with the promise that they'd appear for their trial after New Years Day. They dropped Marge off at her house before returning to Little Whinging to drop Dudley's gang off at their respective houses. Marge saw that all of her other bulldogs were gone without any known indication of where they went or what happened. Upon opening her front door, she saw a note from Colonel Fubster, her neighbor and dog sitter fall to the floor. She picked up and read it, which said:

 _Marge,_

 _Animal control arrived the other day. Someone must've called them on account of you neglecting your dogs. You won't be able to purchase any more dogs since the police declared that you don't care about your pets._

 _From,_

 _Col. Fubster_

Marge felt an eyelid twitching when she read the note. The brat had a hand in this happening, he must have. If he'd just paid attention to orders, this wouldn't have happened. Now Marge was bent on revenge, even if it meant killing 'the freak' and his 'freak of a friend.' Back at #4 Privet Drive, Vernon noticed that his answering machine had fifty unplayed messages. He, Petunia and Dudley waited to hear what the messages were, then Vernon discovered (to his horror) the message that had his boss declaring him fired from Grunnings. Vernon's temper was becoming a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. Even they blamed 'the freak' and his friend for their misfortunes, instead of taking responsibility for their actions.

Back over by River Wye (where River Lugg came to it's end), Harry and Hailey were still trying to figure out which way they should follow. Ultimately, the runaways decided to just swim forward, so they got out their life jackets, put them on and began their second occasion swimming across a river. Once they made it to the other side of River Wye, Harry and Hailey took their life jackets off and began their desperate wishing method of getting themselves warm and dry. It happened and their clothes and life jackets dried off, as if they hadn't been wet at all. Then they packed their life jackets into their respective backpacks and continued their journey by following the river southwest. They walked a ways over to some more trees they could hide in, allowing them to continue slipping by undetected. Not long after, the runaways spotted a brook, so Harry got the map out and saw that it was called _Tar's Brook_ , so they followed it in hopes that they wouldn't get spotted since the brook was surrounded by trees. Harry and Hailey eventually spotted a building close by the brook, forcing them to run until they were a safe distance away. A little while later, the brook had a part of it that lacked alot of trees.

"Maybe we'll need to wait a minute or two before continuing." said Hailey.

"We might as well," agreed Harry. "Better safe than… krud!"

He spotted another magical house about thirty feet from where they were standing, which Hailey saw herself. There were three kids playing in the front yard. Harry and Hailey looked through their respective pairs of binoculars again and discovered, to their horror that the three kids were Susan, Neville and Hannah. The same ones who spotted them after Hailey accidentally said Harry's name loud enough to be heard. So Harry and Hailey tried to sneak by stealthily and the closer they got, the better they could hear Susan, Neville and Hannah talking.

"I do wonder how much longer it'll be before those kids get caught," said Hannah. "I'd think somebody may have spotted them long ago."

"I'm not sure, Hannah," said Neville. "That time we saw them outside mine and gran's manor, the runaway kids ran so fast we couldn't catch up."

"Auntie mentioned something on the elopement records, once Kingsley showed them to her the other evening," said Susan. "It did show Harry's name on it, along with another name close to his. It means that Harry's friend's name is Hailey."

Harry and Hailey tensed up once more at what they just heard. What in the world was elopement and how did their names end up on these elopement records? Susan, Neville and Hannah had more, so Harry and Hailey stayed where they were, feeling that they needed to hear more.

"What was her last name?" asked Neville.

"From what auntie told me, this Hailey's last name is Brandwood," said Susan. "Why she ran away with Harry is a mystery. In fact, nobody really understands why Harry ran away as well."

"Yeah, and since those two seem to run away no matter who approaches them, so that also remains a mystery." said Hannah.

"If they're that paranoid, I can't really blame them," said Neville. "But someone is bound to catch up to them, sooner or later. We just have to hope whoever it may be does a good job."

"Looks like more people are trying to suck up to us," Harry whispered to Hailey. "They're just eager for a reward."

"They must be," Hailey whispered back. "They just wanna help take us back to our so called relatives."

"If they even try, they'll be in for a long fight," Harry whispered. "We ain't giving up easily. If they make us return to our abusive so called families, they're taking away our lives."

"Yeah," Hailey whispered. "We can't and won't let anybody ruin our lives. We'd better sneak away before those kids spot us again."

Harry nodded his head in understanding. Feeling their paranoia rise once more, the runaways started sneaking away. Harry and Hailey would look behind them from time to time, to make sure they weren't being followed. Susan, Hannah and Neville were still distracted, partially relieving Harry and Hailey. They were a reasonable distance away when Hailey tripped over a tree root.

"Uh!" she grunted, when she hit the ground.

"You alright, Hailey?" asked Harry, helping her up.

"Yeah, thanks Harry." said Hailey gratefully.

Her grunt, unfortunately caught Susan, Hannah and Neville's attention. They got up and started following Harry and Hailey (though, they weren't aware of it yet). The three tried to be as quiet as possible, so as not to spook the runaways, but it seemed like luck wasn't with them.

"Susan, Hannah, Neville!" Hannah's parents called out.

Harry and Hailey stopped in their tracks and looked behind them. Seeing that Susan, Hannah and Neville were following them, Harry and Hailey started feeling more paranoid.

"NO! LEAVE US ALONE!" screamed a terrified Harry and Hailey in unison. They started running off with all they had, leaving Susan, Neville and Hannah in the dust.

"Wait, don't leave!" Hannah shouted.

"We won't hurt you." Susan blurted out.

The three realized that it was nearly a futile attempt. Harry and Hailey tripped over their feet in their panic, giving Susan, Hannah and Neville another chance to catch up. This only further intensified Harry and Hailey's paranoia.

"GO AWAY!" Harry and Hailey screamed once more, feeling tears well up.

When Hannah's parents, Susan's aunt and Neville's grandmother also came out to help, Harry and Hailey got up and ran off. Susan, Hannah and Neville had little choice but to stop, knowing that the runaways ran pretty fast. Their respective aunt, parents and grandmother caught up with the three.

"Was that Harry and his friend?" asked Amelia, watching the runaways running with all they had.

"It seemed to be, auntie," said Susan. "We were trying to assure that we weren't gonna hurt them."

"But they wouldn't listen," said Hannah. "It appeared that the closer we got, the more terrified they were getting because they screamed at us to leave them alone."

"We got even closer this time," said Neville. "It just seems like luck isn't with anybody in this case."

Amelia saw the runaways reaching the trees in the distance. They still seemed to keep running with intense effort, trying to stay away from pretty much anybody. So Susan, Hannah, Neville, Amelia, Neville's grandmother and Hannah's parents returned to the manor.

'If that is Harry and his friend, Hailey, I wonder what made them so paranoid.' thought Amelia.

Meanwhile, Harry and Hailey were still running with all they had, terrified that they were still being followed. They stayed within the trees while still following Tar's Brook, just so no one else could find them. Once they felt they were a safe distance away, Harry and Hailey stopped and sat down on a nearby boulder to catch their breath.

"That was a close one," whispered Hailey in fright, as tears started flowing down her face. "It seemed like we were done for th-that time!"

"Y-Y-Yeah," Harry whispered equally frightened, also feeling tears flowing. "It felt l-like our lives w-w-were f-f-flashing befooorreeee our very eyes!"

Harry and Hailey spent some time hugging each other for comfort. Once they had calmed down, the runaways resumed their journey. They walked west some, hoping to look for another river or something to follow. They came to the edge of the trees and saw a highway. Hailey got the map out and saw that the highway was called _A49_. The map also saw that there was another brook called _Worm Brook_. So they began walking toward the highway and looked both ways before crossing. After they did, they hid in the small bunch of trees and spied on a few passing vehicles. Luckily none of them pulled over, so Harry and Hailey started following Worm Brook. There were some trees around that allowed the runaways to continue slipping by without getting caught. Sometimes the number of trees around Worm Brook would get few and far, which forced Harry and Hailey into picking the pace up. The brook eventually had a split, so Harry got the map out to see which way they ought to go.

"If we take the way going south, we'll come across a town." said Harry.

"So we should continue going west then." said Hailey.

"Yeah, we might as well." said Harry.

Upon putting the map away, the runaways followed the brook west. After a while, they came to another split, so Harry got the map out again to see if they should go south or continue west. They decided to continue following Worm Brook, but the runaways ran fast when they spotted another building, to ensure that they'd avoid getting spotted. The brook also flowed under two bridges, which also made Harry and Hailey run (just so no vehicle, police cars especially would stop and allow the occupants to spot the kids). Harry and Hailey passed under a third bridge when they spotted a bigger bunch of trees. It was getting dark, so Harry and Hailey opted to get the tent set up and walk in. All that running, plus almost having been caught was exhausting Harry and Hailey.

"Shall we wait a while before we continue our journey?" asked Hailey.

"Yeah, we probably should wait a while," agreed Harry. "Just in case those three kids and their guardians are still trying to track us down."

"Plus, with this tent being under the fidelius charm, nobody other than Xander can come across us." said Hailey.

"Yeah," said Harry. "I wonder if he's still investigating our past lives."

"He could be," said Hailey. "It's been a while since we crossed paths with him. Maybe it's been even more challenging than he anticipated, especially with my father."

"That could mean that his investigating mission is taking up too much of his time to come by to check on us." Harry deduced.

"Could be," said Hailey, then she started yawning. "I'm tired. Goodnight Harry!"

"Goodnight Hailey!" said Harry, who started yawning not long after.

After giving each other a goodnight hug, Harry and Hailey went into their respective bedrooms, changed into their pajamas and as soon as they collapsed on their respective beds, they fell asleep almost immediately. Meanwhile, in the wizarding prison in the middle of the North Sea, the man with long, shaggy black hair was thin enough for his plan to work.

'I'm coming for you, pup!' thought the man, determined to reunite with his godson. 'Wherever you are, I'll find you and we can catch up on all the missed bonding moments!'

Then the man transformed into a dog somehow and slipped through the bars of his cell. It was nighttime, so the plan was strongly possible to work. The man knew that as long as he stayed in his dog form, he wouldn't be noticed. Once he made it to the water, he began swimming to shore. The next part of the plan included using his sense of smell to find Harry's scent, which must be done out in the wilderness (remembering reading about Harry's disappearance and how he hadn't been seen much since).

To be continued!

 **Author's note 1: I'd like to thank 'cornholio4' for suggesting that the Dursleys get released on bail and that Vernon find out about the news that he had been fired.**

 **Author's note 2: Well, Harry and Hailey still have yet to find out that a certain someone is beginning his mission to reunite with Harry. Will that mission eventually succeed? Will Harry and Hailey eventually get placed in an orphanage or will one of their searchers get to them and take them under their wing? Stay tuned to find out more.**


	18. Chapter 18

_Disclaimer: As usual, I just own this fanfic and OC Hailey. The OC Xander Scamander belongs to Supernova2015 (now 5UP3RN0VA2015), J.K. Rowling owns the rest of the Harry Potter series. No copyright intended!_

 **Ch. 18**

 **Outbursts And Acquaintances**

The next morning after breakfast, Vernon called his now former employer at Grunnings. He was desperate to get his position as director back, despite being on bail. As soon as his former employer picked up the line at the other end, Vernon spoke.

"This is Vernon Dursley." he said, trying to hide his nervousness.

"Oh, Vernon," said the owner of Grunnings. "You've been fired for several weeks now. The fact that you ignored my earlier calls made it worse."

"B-But… you don't… don't understand," stammered Vernon. "I'll be homeless if I…"

"Sorry Vernon," said the Grunnings owner firmly. "You blew it. Goodbye."

After hanging up, Vernon felt as though he'd lost the rest of his sanity. Petunia and Dudley were terrified a bit, so they backed away some.

"THE BOY, HE'S JUST CROSSED THE LINE!" screamed Vernon, unaware that a window was open. "HE'S BEEN NOTHING BUT A BIG PAIN IN OUR ARSE EVER SINCE WE TOOK HIM IN. WE GIVE HIM ROOM AND BOARD AND THIS IS HOW HE REPAYS US? I'M GONNA STRANGLE THE FREAK WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON HIM AGAIN. HE DESERVES TO GET EVEN MORE UNRELENTING BEATINGS! I'M NOT GONNA EVEN CARE IF HE CRIES FOR MERCY, HE WON'T GET IT!"

Unfortunately for Vernon, several neighbors heard his outbursts. They were horrified at what was heard from the Dursleys house, thus prompting someone to call the police. Many of the other neighbors started forming an angry mob (some holding picket signs and some wearing sandwich boards) and they started marching toward #4 Privet Drive, much to the Dursleys horror. They tried to get in their van and drive away, only to find themselves surrounded by the mob. Vernon honked his van horn, forcing those in front of them to cover their ears. This didn't make the mob dissipate, as they were demanding the Dursleys to face justice for child abuse. The police arrived not long after and arrested Vernon, Petunia and Dudley. This angered Vernon even further as he felt that being on bail meant he wouldn't be arrested again, especially so quickly.

The Dursleys were taken into custody again and Vernon was placed in a holding cell with another prisoner. Dudley was taken to a juvenile detention centre while Petunia was taken to a womens' jail.

"That stupid girl," growled the prisoner who Vernon was sharing a cell with. "Because of her foolish running away, I've been chucked in here."

"My pathetic excuse for a nephew caused me to be put in jail, twice," Vernon told the man, hoping he'd make an acquaintance. "He always bullied my precious Dudders and his friends, but tried to get them in trouble anyway with his filthy lies."

"Really?" said the man. "My daughter ran away near the end of September."

"That's when my so-called nephew ran away, too," stated Vernon. "With some girl who had light-brown hair."

"That must've been my daughter who was accompanying your nephew," the man deduced. "But, how did you find them?"

"Well, my sister," Vernon explained. "She spotted my freak for a nephew around her house a while back. But it took a while to find those ruffians again, but they disobeyed orders to surrender and come back once they were found."

"My daughter can do certain things that seem to be magic." said the man.

"My freakish nephew does that, too," said Vernon. "It's like no matter how many times I warn him not to do that, he never learns to quit."

"I try to be clear with my stupid daughter to quit that," said the man. "But she ignores that, too. I'm Charles Brandwood."

"Vernon Dursley." said Vernon, shaking hands with Charles. "Those freaks will be sorry to do all this."

"I agree." said Charles with delight.

(Scene break)

It was early morning of November 11th, so Harry and Hailey decided that now was the time to resume their journey. Harry checked the weather instrument and saw that, somehow it was supposed to get up around seventy degrees around noon or so. Once the runaways packed up the tent after breakfast (with Hailey applying makeup over Harry's scar after that), they continued following Worm Brook. During the course, Harry and Hailey would check their surroundings, to make sure they still weren't being followed. They still made sure to run like heck anytime they came across a bridge, just so no one (police officers especially) would be tempted to pull over and look out over at two unsupervised kids following a stream or something without adult supervision. After a while, Harry and Hailey came across some sort of lumber yard. They once again ran with all they had, to avoid running into anyone. Some minutes later, Worm Brook led the runaways to another stream of water.

"Huh," said Harry, once he got the map out to check it. "This is River Dore."

"Perhaps we should follow it northwest," suggested Hailey. "If we were to follow it south, that'll make it harder to slip by without getting spotted because of the highway close by and some of the passengers like to look at the scenery."

"I concur," said Harry. "Particularly with last week's encounter, it's too risky to go anywhere close to any city or village."

So he and Hailey started following River Dore to the northwest. Since it was surrounded by trees, this allowed the runaways to continue slipping by without anyone realizing. Along the way, they continued running whenever they spotted any building, parking lot, or bridge. Then they would walk a little to catch their breath.

Meanwhile at the Burrow, Ron and Hermione went out into the orchard. Ginny was still upset by Harry's elopement, so she continued to spend most of her time in her room. Molly and Arthur walked up to the door leading to their daughter's room, knowing that Ginny needed to be told what was bound to happen in life.

"Ginny," said Molly as she gently knocked on the door. "You can't stay in your room forever. It's not good for you to keep yourself isolated as much as possible."

"It's also time we had a talk with you." said Arthur.

Ginny reluctantly got up and opened the door to let her parents in. Once the door was closed, Arthur cast some privacy wards and a locking charm on the door while Molly went to hug Ginny (doing anything it took to provide her daughter with as much comfort as possible).

"It just isn't fair, mum," Ginny replied in a tearful whisper. "I was hopeful that he and I would eventually get married."

"I know, sweetie," said Molly. "But life isn't always fair. We may not have alot of money, but we still have one another. Bill may be in Egypt while Charlie, Percy, Fred and George may be at Hogwarts, but they're still with us in some way. We're still a family and that's something no amount of money can buy."

"Besides," said Arthur, as he hugged his daughter for comfort (with he and Molly taking turns). "Harry and his friend may have known each other for a while. Seeing how they appear to have been inseparable since running away, it's like they've known each other for years. Even though we take turns telling you stories about Harry coming to your rescue where the both of you ride off into the sunset, that's all a fantasy. The _real_ Harry and the Boy-Who-Lived are completely different people."

"We've never met Harry personally," stated Molly. "And hardly anybody has had any luck with that. Harry and his friend appear to be extremely paranoid that everybody is out to get them."

"But they seemed to have been fine when dad asked them if they were lost that one day." said Ginny.

"It may have looked like it from the outside, Ginny," said Arthur. "But they were more than likely terrified on the inside that anybody they came across would make them go back to the past. You know what they say, looks can be deceiving."

"Even if Harry makes it to his teen years," said Molly. "He probably thinks that his friend is the only one for him. But that doesn't mean that you can't be friends with him if you tried to get to know the real Harry."

"Will he ever come back this way?" asked Ginny.

"Possibly," said Molly. "But very unlikely. He and his friend still don't seem to have a final destination in mind."

"Plus, they're miles and miles away," stated Arthur. "Given their exceptional skills in slipping by without notice, nobody has really been able to try and befriend them. Amelia told me that last week, Neville, Susan and Hannah saw them again. They were close in trying to help them, but Harry and his friend… their paranoia was just too much."

"Do you think somebody will finally manage to get through to them?" asked Ginny.

"We hope so," said Molly. "But it doesn't seem likely that it'll happen, at least anytime soon. So how about joining Ron and Hermione out in the orchard? That way, it'll help distract you from what all has been going on."

"Well, okay," said Ginny. "It won't be easy, but I'll do it."

(Scene break)

For the last couple hours or so, Harry and Hailey continued following River Dore. They eventually reached a split in the river, so Harry got out the map to look for better routes to take.

"If we go west," said Harry. "We'll follow a smaller stream called Trenant Brook."

"I think that'd be the better option," said Hailey as she looked down the direction of River Dore they'd been following. "Otherwise, we'll pass by a town and it appears to be big enough to where we may be more likely to get caught."

So the runaways decided to follow Trenant Brook. Harry folded the map back up and pocketed it before he and Hailey continued walking. They opted to continue following the brook northwest. They had to cross a road, but no vehicles drove by (something that relieved the runaways). They kept at it until they spotted a bigger bunch of trees that was north-northeast from their standing spot. They made a beeline for the trees and stopped to have lunch. Once they finished, they resumed heading northwest in hopes of looking for another river to follow (after crossing another road in the process). They saw some more buildings (and some plowed farmland) coming into plain view. Luckily with some nearby trees, Harry and Hailey were able to sneak by quickly without being spotted. Then they continued going northwest (making sure to stay in the trees and out of sight). After crossing a road called _Snodhill Old Tay_ (mentioned on a nearby sign), Harry and Hailey spotted a bigger bunch of trees, so they ran quickly into them. They checked their surroundings before continuing west.

"Dang," said Harry. "The trees seem to be getting fewer and farther the more we keep going west."

"Yeah," said Hailey. "That'll make it harder to avoid detection. We'll need to be more aware of surroundings until we can find another river, stream or something."

"Yeah," said Harry. "Maybe some trees if any are close…"

But the runaways did spot some more in the distance. Several roads were going into them, resulting in Harry and Hailey running with all they had toward them. Upon getting the map out again, Harry and Hailey saw that some roads _did_ go through the trees. They also spotted what looked like a regional boundary called _Wales_ , which was west from the bigger bunch of trees. Intrigued by what Wales may look like, Harry and Hailey ran through the trees (in an attempt to use a shortcut) and found another stream of water called _Dulas Brook_ , which was going over the boundary shown on the map. The runaways walked across the brook and officially entered the region of Wales. They also found more trees to hide in, allowing them to continue slipping by without attracting attention.

Meanwhile in London jail, Vernon and Charles had been spending the last few days or so getting to know each other. Vernon hadn't thought before that there was someone near his now former neighborhood who had a similar personality. Rather than accept responsibility for their actions, Vernon and Charles blamed Harry and Hailey respectively for getting them in trouble.

"Those kids will be sorry for causing this!" said Vernon and Charles in unison.

When it was finally dinnertime for the other inmates, Vernon and Charles made sure not to reveal why they were in jail. They acted like they were in for something that was fairly common, such as robbery or something. Meanwhile, Xander was continuing his investigations and has made some improvement, but he knew he was still far from finished.

"As long as I keep the faith," said Xander to himself. "I'll eventually succeed!"

 _To be continued!_

 **Author's note 1: I'd like to give a shoutout to 'El Pirato' for suggesting Uncle Vernon make his angry outbursts loud enough for the neighbors to hear, much to the Dursleys' horror.**

 **Author's note 2: Well, Uncle Vernon finally met Hailey's father and they're getting along. Will they finally face justice? Will Harry and Hailey eventually get found or will they continue to evade everybody they come across? Stay tuned to find out more!**


	19. Chapter 19

_Disclaimer: As usual, all I own is this fanfic and OC Hailey. The OC Xander Scamander belongs to 5UP3RN0V42015. J.K. Rowling owns the rest, no copyright intended!_

 **Ch. 19**

 **Wonder Wales**

Seven more days have passed since Harry and Hailey entered the country of Wales. For the last week, the runaways had been following _River Wye_ (due to some colder days which forced the kids into spending quite a bit of that time in the tent and traveling at the first opportunity). The runaways could tell how much stronger they've been getting ever since running away from Little Whinging. Harry in particular was packing a little bit of muscle, but his and Hailey's respective leg muscles continued getting stronger because of all the walking, running and some jogging. It was 6:00 on the morning of November 18th, the time Harry and Hailey decided to pack up the tent and resume their journey, once they finished eating breakfast (but not before packing the necessities into their respective backpacks and Hailey applying makeup over Harry's lightning bolt scar). An hour later, the runaways spotted a smaller river emptying into River Wye, so Hailey got the map out out to find out the name.

"This smaller river is called River Elan," said Hailey. "It's surrounded by trees, which will make it easier for us to avoid anybody spotting us."

"Yes, as long as we stay outta the water," said Harry. "I checked that weather scope before we packed up the tent and it said the highest today would be like fifty-five to sixty degrees. If we walked through the water, any unseen people could hear it."

"We can't risk that," said Hailey, shuddering at the thought of something like that happening. "Maybe River Wye is still surrounded by trees."

"Yeah, that may be the better option." said Harry.

So the runaways continued on following _River Wye_ upstream. The trees surrounding Harry and Hailey allowed them to slip by without notice. After a while of following the river upstream, a city came into view. After hiding themselves among the trees, Harry got out the map to find out the name of the city.

"This city is called Rhayader," said Harry as he examined the map. "The first city in Wales we've come across."

"How will we get past?" wondered Hailey. "There's a bridge that the river passes under, making it strongly possible for us to get spotted."

"Well, there is a bigger bunch of trees if we go west a little bit," said Harry, continuing to examine the map. "We can hide in those or we can try going around the city a little bit and find the river again."

"Maybe we can find a way of doing both," suggested Hailey. "Sometimes that can help."

"Okay, let's give that a try." said Harry.

So the runaways did just that. Anytime they'd cross a street, they would run so as not to draw any unwanted attention. Harry kept the map out, just in case if they needed to find some shortcuts. After a few close calls, Harry and Hailey managed to find their way back near River Wye. So they continued following it upstream, making sure they didn't get spotted.

Meanwhile, the man with the long, shaggy black hair (while in his dog form) was out in the wilderness somewhere southwest of Little Whinging. He was trying to track Harry down by sniffing his scent (like police dogs when they are trying to find a criminal suspect on the run). He knew this was a start in a higher chance of succeeding in finding him.

'I remember Hagrid telling me about Harry having to go to the Dursleys that night Lily and James were murdered,' thought the man sadly, while trying to keep his emotions in check for the sake of reuniting with his godson. 'If Harry really did run away, he must've been abused or something. Even in my grim form, I can hear the other wizards and witches discussing Harry's disappearance. What was Albus thinking to assume that Harry should be placed with Lily's sister and her husband? But who can I go to for help? Everyone believes that I murdered all those muggles.'

So the man in his dog form went back to his attempt at tracking Harry down. He knew it wouldn't be easy, but he needed to find a way to prove to Harry that he can trust him. Meanwhile, Harry and Hailey stopped when they saw another stream of water flowing into River Wye.

"Well, this stream to the west is called Afon Tarennig," said Hailey as she got the map out and examined it. "If we go west, we'll continue to follow River Wye upstream. If not, we can go just make a beeline for the trees just south of us."

"Maybe the trees are the better option," said Harry. "We won't be out in the open. We've already had some close calls earlier."

"You're right, Harry," said Hailey. "We'd better walk through the trees for a while."

So the runaways did just that. Once they were within the trees, they started going south-southwest. Part of it wasn't easy because walking uphill can be tiring. Going downhill was also bound to have disadvantages, especially when Harry and Hailey realized that they needed to be careful and not go too fast. It took the runaways around an hour or two to make it down the mountain side, just so they wouldn't get injured to the point of getting sent to a hospital (and to avoid attracting unwanted attention). They came across another stream of water, which was called _Afon Castell_ , according to the map when Hailey got it out and checked it. So she and Harry started following it west. When another town came into plain view, the runaways checked the map again.

"That town is called Ponterwyd," said Harry as he looked over the map. "We need to find a way around it."

"There's another stream called Afon Rheidol," said Hailey as she continued examining the map. "If we go around the town to the east, we can come across the stream and follow it south."

"It's surrounded by trees, so we'll still be able to slip by without attracting attention." said Harry.

So they did just that, they went around the east end of the town to get to _Afon Rheidol_ (making sure to stay out of sight). Seeing that there were trees surrounding the stream, Harry and Hailey felt relieved to continue slipping by without any notice. After their lunch break, the runaways continued on with following Afon Rheidol. They eventually reached a body of water that turned out to be a reservoir. The runaways got their map out, examined it and saw that the reservoir was called _Cwm Rheidol Reservoir_ , so Harry and Hailey retreated back into the trees to stay out of sight. At the first chance, Harry and Hailey ran back toward Afon Rheidol and continued following it. The runaways saw the stream passed by some bodies of water that were also called Afon Rheidol, then they got the map out to look for more out-of-the-way routes.

"Maybe we can cut across some land to save a little time." suggested Harry.

"Great idea, Harry," said Hailey. "As long as we stay alert and make sure we don't get spotted."

Once they put their map away, Harry and Hailey managed to sneak over some land. Taking the shortcut over to the other part of Afon Rheidol wasn't too difficult. The river happened to pass by a train station, forcing Harry and Hailey to picking up the pace. Once they felt certain they were far enough, they slowed down to a walking pace. Eventually, the river led the runaways to a city, putting them in another quandary (their first one in Wales).

"Krud!" exclaimed Hailey.

"How will we get out of here without notice?" asked Harry.

"Well," said Hailey as she got their map out. "This is just outside of a big city called Aberystwyth, which has a harbour. If we don't find a solution, we'll be caught and placed in an orphanage."

"There's some train tracks going out of the city to the northeast," said Harry as he also looked over the map. "We can maybe wait for a train or something and take another risk to hop it."

"We might as well," said Hailey. "Maybe we can also follow the tracks until the next one possibly starts going in that direction."

So they went over to where the tracks were. The runaways were relieved a little bit because the tracks were surrounded by trees (giving them another chance of avoiding unwanted attention). It wasn't long before Harry and Hailey heard a train horn in the distance, so they hid in some nearby trees to spy on the passing train cars. The train happened to be going in the same direction as they were. After waiting for a few cars to pass by, Harry and Hailey began running toward one. Once they got into one of the cars, the runaways slinked into the shadows to make sure that an engineer wouldn't spot them if any inspected the cars. Occasionally, they'd scoot over to the opened doors and peek out to see when and if the time to jump out was necessary. After an indeterminate amount of time, the runaways decided to jump out before they could bite off more than they could chew. Harry and Hailey made sure to somersault as they landed on the grassy ground to avoid injury. Then they took off into the trees to keep watch of the train until it was out of sight. Once it was, the runaways blew sighs of relief.

"That was a close one." whispered Hailey.

"Yeah," Harry also whispered in agreement. "We still have a little bit of time before we have to set the tent up."

"Yes, we gotta cover as much distance as possible." said Hailey.

They spotted another river, so Harry got the map out to find out the name of it. The river was called _Afon Llyfnant_ , so the runaways ran toward it and followed it east. After a while, Harry and Hailey decided to start going north once the spotted some trees. They were pretty knackered and decided to stop for the evening.

(Scene break)

Around a quarter after five the next morning, Harry and Hailey got up and started getting ready. While Hailey was showering, Harry checked the weather scope and saw that today was going to be another day where the weather was expected to be decent. Once the runaways got finished packing the necessities (with Hailey applying makeup over Harry's scar), they packed up the tent and resumed their journey. They followed Afon Llyfnant again and when they came to a three way in the river, Hailey got the map out to find the name of the river going east.

"The river going east is called Nant Cwm-cemrhiw," said Hailey. "Maybe we could go that way."

"Might as well," said Harry. "I'd hate to think of ending up near a possible waterfall or something."

So the runaways did just that, following Nant Cwm-cemrhiw to see where it would lead them to. Then they started going north (hoping they could find another river to follow and avoid any unnecessary backtracking). As usual, Harry and Hailey did whatever they could to avoid catching unwanted attention by hiding, looking down at the ground, any number of things.

Meanwhile at the Burrow, Ginny and Ron were waiting for Hermione and Luna to arrive. While Ginny was still disappointed in the fact that Harry had eloped, she was slowly coming to accept it. Ron was surprised once he learned of it and so was Luna. Hermione was both surprised and skeptical once she was told (but more skeptical than surprised), as she was wondering how a couple of nine year olds could elope just like that. Ginny walked up to her mother (who was sitting on a couch, knitting).

"Mum," said Ginny. "Do you think we could try to find Harry and his friend again?"

"I'm sorry, sweetie," said Molly. "But we tried several times and we didn't get _any_ results."

"Didn't you and dad once say that giving up isn't a good idea?" asked Ginny.

"Usually, it isn't," said Molly. "But sometimes, it's the only option left. Otherwise, you'll be wasting time. Who knows where they could be at by now."

"How far away could they be?" asked Ginny.

"Well, for all we know, they could be hundreds of miles away," said Molly. "Your guess is as good as mine."

As much as Ginny wanted to sneak off and looked for the runaways, she knew it wasn't worth the risk. She would've gotten into big trouble if she ran off to do so. Not only that, but she wouldn't have gotten very far, either. So she went outside to play with Ron, Hermione and Luna. Meanwhile, Harry and Hailey were continuing their journey. After a few close calls (and a couple hours or so), they reached another river called _Afon Ceirig_ (as mentioned on the map Once they got it out to look over it and find some other routes). The runaways followed the river for a bit before going northwest, and they reached another river. Upon getting the map out, the runaways saw that they reached _Afon Dulas_ , and they decided to follow it west for a bit. Then they started going northwest once more. Climbing over the mountains made it challenging for the runaways, resulting in them having to stop and rest a few times before continuing. Harry and Hailey found a stream that, according to the map was called _Nant Ceiswyn_. They still continued northwest for a bit before stopping for a lunch break, once they were finished, they resumed their journey and started going west. After an unspecified amount of time, the runaways reached another river called _Nant y Ceunant_. They followed it to the north for a bit, before they spotted a town visible from where they were within the trees.

"This town is called Dolgellau," said Harry as he looked over the map. "I see another river called Afon Mawddach. Maybe we can try making a beeline for it."

"And follow it to the east," said Hailey. "We should try avoiding mountains for a while. Some of them don't have any trees, which could make it easier for us to get spotted."

So the runaways continued on and followed Afon Mawddach east. Since it was surrounded by trees, the runaways were relieved. Meanwhile, the man with the long, shaggy black hair (while still in his dog form) was continuing _his_ mission is trying to track Harry down.

'I wish pup would just stay in one place long enough for me to find him,' thought the man. 'But, I don't blame him. After all it's nice to see alot of the countryside. If that's part of pup's plan, maybe I should follow suit.'

 _To be continued!_

 **Author's note 1: I'd like to give a shoutout to 'Jay Saxena' for suggesting shining a light on Harry's and Hailey's respective physiques.**


	20. Chapter 20

_Disclaimer: As usual, I just own this fanfic and OC Hailey. The OC Xander Scamander belongs to 5UP3RN0V42015, J.K. Rowling owns the rest. No copyright intended!_

 **Warning: Emotional moments in this chapter, so reader's discretion is advised.**

 **Ch. 20**

 **Godric's Hollow**

Harry and Hailey continued on for a few more hours. They were within a bunch of trees northeast of a town called _Llanfacreth_ (as mentioned on the map). It was getting dark out, so the runaways started getting out the tent to get it set up. Before they could, Harry and Hailey heard some footsteps approaching them. Naturally, they got all tense (thinking that they were done for this time), but they were relieved to see that it was Xander.

"I apologize," said Xander. "I needed to check on you two."

"It's all good, Xander." said the runaways in unison.

"Did you have any luck in finding enough evidence to ensure that my father will face further charges?" asked Hailey.

"No unfortunately," said Xander. "But he is currently held in jail back in London."

"Well, that's good so far," said Hailey. "But he needs to be locked up forever, for the safety of other kids. He may even try to beat Harry in the same way the Dursleys did."

"Even the Dursleys are in jail, in Dudley's case it would be both an orphanage, _and_ a reform school." said Xander.

"Wow, hopefully they, too get locked up for good," said Harry. "They must face the consequences now."

"I feel pretty certain that they will," said Xander. "I've heard some of the citizens of Little Whinging talking about all that. Plus, I found a newspaper that I think both of you will be happy to read."

He handed the newspaper to Harry and Hailey. They started reading it and were surprised to learn that the article was about Aunt Marge having committed suicide. The runaways correctly deduced that it had to have been related to Marge abandoning her other dogs (which they knew because Ripper was the only dog accompanying them when Harry and Hailey last spotted the Dursleys and Dudley's gang). Harry and Hailey even figured out that something may have happened to Ripper to drive Marge toward suicide, but the runaways felt no sympathy. That was because of Marge having tried to sic Ripper on them that day they strolled by, shortly before meeting Xander.

"I also came by because I thought maybe you'd like to take a little trip to Godric's Hollow." said Xander.

"What's that?" asked the runaways.

"That's where Lily and James Potter lived before they were murdered," said Xander, who turned his attention to Harry. "They were your parents, Harry. Your mother sacrificed herself to save you because she refused to step aside, while your father may have tried to hold Lord Voldemort off to allow Lily to take you and run away."

"That was what Hailey told me when she and I first met," stated Harry. "She even mentioned how her mum was a witch and how she found out about me and my parents."

"Yeah," said Hailey. "But my mum encouraged me to go to a muggle school, explaining that it was to be an experiment to see how muggles manage. She didn't want me to rely on magic too much, something I was quick on agreeing with."

"But how will we get to this Godric's Hollow?" asked Harry. "We could be hundreds of miles away!"

"I can apparate you two over there," said Xander. "Apparition is a transportation spell that allows one to vanish and reappear in another location. In this case, you two will experience side apparition. You'll have to grab ahold of my arms in order for it to work."

"Well, o-o-okaaayyyyy!" Harry and Hailey stuttered.

The runaways were still hesitant, which Xander expected. He figured taking it one step at a time would help Harry and Hailey start to ease up and trust a little. That task was still far from finished, especially with the ongoing investigations regarding Hailey's father that was still bound to get in the way. After a minute or so, Harry and Hailey each grabbed one of Xander's arms and off they apparated. While it was almost instantaneous, it made Harry and Hailey momentarily dizzy. Once they recovered, they got back onto their feet.

"Isn't there a more comfortable way of doing that?" asked the runaways.

"Unfortunately, no," stated Xander. "With wizarding transportation, we trade comfort for speed."

Harry and Hailey nodded their heads to show that they understood. Then Xander started leading the way to Potter Cottage. When they made it to the ruins of the house, it made Harry speechless. The right side (or the house's left side) of the upper floor was destroyed. Not only that, but he, Hailey and Xander also saw that nature had reclaimed the house, with ivy and a countless number of vines covering the ruins (and the lawn having grown out of control).

"And a church down the road also has statues of your parents in the graveyard." said Xander to Harry. So he led the runaways over to the graveyard entrance. "Well, this is the furthest I can go. I know it's best to give you two some time to try and ease up. I also have to make sure I'm well rested before continuing the investigations."

"Well, o-o-o-kaaayyyyy," said Harry and Hailey in unison. "G-G-Good luck!"

"Thank you, and good luck to the both of you." said Xander.

Then he went to find a secluded area to apparate away. Harry and Hailey took deep breaths before walking into the graveyard. Then they walked over to the statue replicas of Harry's parents, Lily and James (both of which were giving the impression that they were watching over their respective graves). Harry walked in front of the statues while Hailey kept her distance, so she could give Harry some time to grieve. Harry could feel tears welling up in his eyes as he faced the statues and graves of his parents.

"Hi mum, hi dad," sobbed Harry to the statues of his parents. "I finally got a look at our house, something I never knew was there until just recently. For as long as I can remember, I never knew that you and dad put in some joint effort in protecting me. My friend, Hailey was the very first person to tell me what all happened that night. Neither Uncle Vernon nor Aunt Petunia allowed me to ask any questions, and they even lied to me with claims that you both died in a car crash. I believed that until the day Hailey came into my life. The only adult to even tell me was a man named Xander Scamander."

Hailey also felt some tears welling up in her eyes. She knew how hard it was for Harry right now. This was the first time he got the chance to grieve for his parents.

"I wish you both were here right now," Harry continued sobbing to the statues of his parents. "Despite having found about about my fame as the Boy-Who-Lived, I would give that up if it meant I can have you both back."

Harry went to hug the statues of his parents as more tears flowed from his eyes. This was the closest he could prove to his parents how much he wanted them with him. Hailey also gave Harry a hug, doing what she could to provide her best friend with as much comfort as possible (with Harry hugging her back). Once Harry finished grieving for his parents and Hailey with providing Harry comfort, the runaways left the graveyard and outside of the town limits of Godric's Hollow. Once they found a bunch of trees, Harry and Hailey got the tent set up. Then they decided to call it a night, so they went into their respective bedrooms, changed into their pajamas, climbed into their respective beds and quickly fell asleep.

(Scene break)

At 5:30 the next morning, Harry and Hailey got up and did the usual, they ate breakfast, took turns taking a shower, then they packed up the necessities into their respective backpacks (with Hailey applying makeup over Harry's scar). Once they finished getting ready, the runaways packed up the tent and started traveling east.

"Some of this is all looking a little familiar," Harry noticed as he looked all around him. "It's like we've been here before."

"Yeah, it does," said Hailey as she looked all around her. "I think we may have passed by this region shortly after running away from Little Whinging."

"We'll need to be extra cautious," Harry realized. "Some of our searchers may still be trying to look for us."

"Yeah," agreed Hailey. "Especially with the fact that we've passed through here before."

So the runaways continued with their journey. Along the way, they did come across the black cylindrical building. Harry and Hailey remembered when that blonde haired girl with pale-silvery eyes spotted them and somehow figured out Harry's identity. This time, the runaways stayed a reasonable distance away. It was around 9:30 AM when they came across the Burrow, resulting in the runaways tensing up. They hid in some nearby trees (unknowingly the same ones Ginny happened to be hiding in when she first spotted the runaways).

"Krud!" Hailey whispered to Harry, as the two spied on the Burrow from hiding spots within some trees. "There's those two redheads who appear to be our age. There's also that one girl with bushy brown hair."

"And that blonde girl who somehow deduced my real identity," Harry whispered back. "I wonder what they may be doing outside."

"They could ask us that question if they were to spot us!" whispered Hailey, feeling her paranoia intensifying. "We'd better sneak away before that happens, otherwise it's game over."

"You're right, Hailey," agreed Harry while whispering, also feeling his paranoia increasing. "We already know the redheads are these Weasleys! Their father drove that car we saw on the morning of our second day into our journey."

"I remember when we spotted them and that bushy haired girl," whispered Hailey. "When we were following Summerham Brook and ended up back towards Avon Canal. They had to be anxious for a reward, so we'd better leave while we still have the chance."

"Right, let's go." Harry whispered back.

So the runaways began sneaking away while keeping an eye on the four kids just outside the front door of the Burrow. Harry and Hailey started tensing up more when the four kids decided to get up and play what looked like tag. The runaways knew that this could make it easier for them to get caught as any one of the kids could run toward them. So Harry and Hailey tried to be more smooth with their sneaking. Harry and Hailey somehow made it as far as the sign identifying the Burrow when they were finally spotted.

"Hey there!" Ron yelled down to the runaways.

Harry and Hailey gasped when they turned around and saw three of the four kids (the redhead boy, the bushy haired girl and the blonde haired girl) running toward them. The redhead girl stayed where she was when she saw the runaways by the sign.

"MUM! DAD! COME OUTSIDE, QUICK!" Ginny hollered.

This further intensified Harry's and Hailey's paranoia, resulting in them running off. The runaways left Ron, Hermione and Luna in the dust. Molly, Arthur, Xenophilius and Remus ran outside just in time to see the running figures of Harry and Hailey. The runaways were already too far for the others to catch up to them.

"Could that have been Harry and his friend?" asked Remus.

"Possibly," said Arthur. "But that black haired boy has to be Harry."

"I'm pretty certain that was Harry," stated Remus, looking at the runaways through a pair of binoculars. "I'd recognize the untidy black hair anywhere, James' hair was exactly like that."

"Well, we'd better go and help them in any way possible," said Arthur. "They could be half starved for all we know."

"Right!" everyone chorused.

So they all went to get some winter clothing (to ensure warmness). While doing that, Arthur fire called Amelia to inform her that Harry was found, so the director of the DMLE came over with Susan (knowing that help would be appreciated). So they all followed the way Ron, Hermione, Luna and Ginny saw Harry and Hailey running off to. They made it to the village of Ottery St. Catchpole and looked around River Otter (picking up on the cue of the runaways' method). Harry and Hailey were still running like mad, but they were following River Otter upstream. They were outside of a village called Ottery St. Mary, according to the map (a little north of it). Once they found some more trees to hide in, the runaways made a beeline and proceeded to wait and hide for a few minutes.

"Now we've been spotted by some adults," said Harry, his heart beating with fright. "It really seems like our journey is gonna come to an end, and we'll be taken to an orphanage."

"Yeeeaaaaahhhhhh!" said Hailey, terrified. "But our enemies are gonna need to realize that we ain't giving up easily."

"Yeah," agreed Harry. "We can't let them ruin our lives!"

"We'll resist in any way if we have to." said Hailey.

So the runaways continued hiding in the trees, keeping watch of their searchers. It was going to seem like an eternity, but Harry and Hailey knew that they must keep watch for a little while (to make sure they weren't being followed). They had no idea that the man named Remus managed to identify Harry by his untidy black hair, which could make their journey much more difficult.

 _To be continued!_

 **Author's note 1: I'd like to give a shoutout to '5UP3RN0V42015' for suggesting that Harry and Hailey visit Godric's Hollow.**

 **Author's note 2: Well, Remus finally managed to identify Harry. Now the journey for Harry and Hailey will be more difficult from now on. What will happen to the runaways? Will they get taken to an orphanage? Will they get spotted by a wizarding family or something? Will they find a way to leave England? Stay tuned to find out more.**


	21. Chapter 21

_Disclaimer: As mentioned before, I just own this fanfic and OC Hailey. The OC Xander Scamander belongs to 5UP3RN0V42015. Everything else belongs to J.K. Rowling, no copyright intended!_

 **Ch. 21**

 **Leaving England**

Harry and Hailey got the tent out and got it set up when they were certain their searchers may have called off the search. The runaways opted to spend a few days in the tent, to make sure that they wouldn't have to suffer anymore mishaps during the course of their journey. After a while, the Weasleys and the others searching had to call it off. Remus was stumped to see for himself how Harry and his friend were able to run so fast and slip through everybodys' fingers like grains of sand. After returning to the Burrow, Amelia turned to Remus.

"Are you sure that that was Harry who had the black hair?" she asked.

"I'm pretty certain it was," assured Remus. "I'd recognize that black hair being untidy. James' hair was also untidy."

"Now we know that black haired boy _was_ Harry," said Arthur. "If I'd known sooner, I would've tried to help him and his friend in any way possible. When I saw them that day, I asked them if they were lost, but they just told me they were out exploring. The exploring part may have been true, but it didn't occur to me that they ran away from abusive homes, assuming that was why they've been so paranoid."

"Arthur, don't blame yourself for that," said Amelia. "You're not at fault. Susan, Hannah and Neville have also been having difficulty in trying to help Harry and his friend. Not many of us adults have gotten anywhere close to them."

"So Harry and his friend are just that paranoid, to the point where they have no idea who to turn to for help?" wondered Remus.

"Pretty much," guessed Amelia. "I do wonder how they've managed to survive! It's possible somebody may be helping them."

"Hopefully," said Molly. "But nobody knows that one for sure."

"It's like Harry and his friend will do anything to keep their distance from anybody," said Susan. "The last time Hannah, Neville and myself saw them, they kept screaming for us to leave them alone. It was like the closer we got, the more it terrified Harry and his friend."

"The poor dears!" said Molly in an empathetic voice.

"They also seem to be extremely skilled in hiding," Remus deduced. "Seeing how we tried to follow the way they took, Harry and his friend still weren't in sight… anywhere!"

"I do wonder how and where they got those skills," said Xenophilius. "When Luna spotted them that one day, she told me that she tried to think of a way to help Harry and his friend."

"I wish I knew," said Amelia. "I'd better inform Cornelius that Harry was finally identified. As paranoid as he and friend are, they can't keep running away from everybody they come across."

"Of course," said Arthur and Molly. "Thank you for some assistance, Amelia."

"You're welcome," said Amelia. "If you do spot Harry and his friend again, do anything it takes to help them. But don't try anything that could spook them into running off again."

"Okay, but the task of not spooking them won't be easy." said Arthur.

"Yes, but we still need to try." stated Molly.

"That's a must," said Amelia, then she turned toward her niece. "Come along, Susan."

"Yes, auntie." said Susan.

So Amelia and Susan apparated away while the Weasleys, Lovegoods, Hermione and Remus went back inside. Despite their efforts in thinking of solutions in trying to help get through to Harry and Hailey, nothing good was coming up. After Amelia dropped Susan off at Hannah's house, she apparated over to the ministry and notified minister Cornelius Fudge that Harry was finally identified. Since Harry and Hailey continued to stay away from cities (regardless if they're magical or muggle), combined with staying in the tent for a few days, they didn't have any knowledge that Harry was identified and that it would make it harder for them to avoid detection.

(Scene break)

It was Saturday, November 25th. Harry and Hailey ate breakfast, then after packing the necessities into their backpacks (with Hailey applying makeup over Harry's scar), they walked out and packed up the tent. They continued following River Otter, but following it upstream this time. For most of the day, the runaways continued following the river, occasionally stopping to rest up, have lunch or anything. They were even more cautious and would look over their shoulders from time to time, to make sure they weren't being followed. It was around 9:30 AM the next day when they somehow reached another river called _River Culm_ , as mentioned on a nearby sign. They followed it east for a little bit before spotting some trees. Luckily, they weren't spotted, so they continued on.

They walked a little bit southeast of a road called _B3170_ when the runaways spotted a bit of wide open area that held another magical home from the looks of it. The wide open land had trees surrounding it, which made the manor unnoticeable to passing muggles driving by. Harry and Hailey saw some kids outside while spying on them from within the trees. There were quite a number of other kids, making Harry and Hailey wonder if there was some kind of party going on. Harry and Hailey got out their respective pairs of binoculars and looked through them. They discovered that there were some they recognized, such as Neville, Susan and Hannah. They even saw the girls named Daphne and Tracey, but there was a dark skin boy. The runaways tensed up when the kids started playing tag and ran by their hiding spot. The kids playing tag decided to stop playing for a bit and chat, unknowingly close to the spot Harry and Hailey were hiding in.

"So Blaise," said Neville to the dark skin boy. "Did you hear about what happened a few days ago?"

"No, what?" asked the boy named Blaise.

"Well, the runaway kids were spotted close to the Burrow," said Neville. "Ron was the first to spot them and he called down to them."

"I did hear about that," said Blaise. "Didn't those runaway kids run off again?"

"Yes," said Susan. "That was what Mr. and Mrs. Weasley told me and auntie when we went over there to help. Remus informed us that he happened to fully identify the black haired boy as Harry Potter."

"Really?" asked Daphne. "It wasn't because of the scar, was it?"

"No, it didn't have anything to do with that," stated Susan. "Harry and his friend were too far for us to notice the scar on Harry's forehead. Remus said he could tell it was Harry because of the untidy black hair, something he knew Harry's father, James had."

"So Daph and I spotted Harry after all," said Tracey. "When he and his friend strolled by my house that day, we didn't have any idea that Harry was the black haired boy. Mum and dad were impressed with how fast they were."

"Auntie even mentioned that Harry's friend's name is Hailey Brandwood," said Susan. "Since she and Kingsley saw their names on the elopement records."

Harry and Hailey tensed up some more, now realizing that the wizarding world was fully aware of their descriptions (more so with Harry). The runaways tried to walk away, but they were petrified with fright. Plus, they didn't want to possibly step on a twig and make it snap, since that would've made the kids realize that there was something within the trees. So Harry and Hailey continued spying, to see if the kids had more information.

"That's a bit weird," said Hannah. "But assuming that they ran away together, I can't really blame them for that. They may not be aware of it themselves."

"How long will Harry and his friend, Hailey continue with what they're doing?" asked Tracey.

"If only we knew, Trace," said Daphne. "Given how they react when they get spotted, they may not be willing to quit."

"Not to mention that they don't seem to have a final destination in mind," said Susan. "If anybody asked Harry and this Hailey that kind of question, it would more than likely make them run away once more."

Harry and Hailey couldn't bear to hear any more, so they tried to sneak away. With several other kids close by, it made sneaking away much more challenging. Sometimes, the other kids would look in the trees, forcing Harry and Hailey into staying in one spot. When they tried sneaking away again after a minute of waiting, Hailey stepped on a twig and made it snap. The other kids looked in the direction of the twig snapping.

"Is there an animal within the trees?" asked Hannah.

"I don't know," said Susan. "It can't be because we'd hear more twigs snapping and leaves rustling or something."

"Harry, are you and your friend out there?" asked Neville, thinking it was them.

The runaways didn't respond to the question, believing Neville was trying to trick them. Harry and Hailey just stayed right where they stopped, hoping the kids would just put enough distance between them. It seemed to be working, so the runaways tried sneaking away once more. They tried keeping watch of the kids, to ensure they wouldn't follow them. While doing so, Harry and Hailey didn't realize that they were starting to wander out of the trees and into plain view of everyone else. Thinking they were safe, Harry and Hailey turned around and began walking off, until Neville and Blaise saw them.

"Harry? Hailey?" said Neville and Blaise in unison.

Harry and Hailey quickly turned around and saw that the kids had spotted them and were now jogging toward them. The runaways gasped in horror, turned around and ran back into the trees.

"Wait, come back," Susan and Hannah called out to the runaways. "We wanna help you!"

Despite running into the trees, Harry and Hailey were still being followed. This increased their paranoia once more, believing the journey was finally over. Harry and Hailey saw the girls named Daphne and Tracey running inside, and this frightened them again (knowing that they were going to get an adult or two to come out and help). The runaways refused to give up, so they continued to try running away, but Neville, Blaise, Susan and Hannah continued the pursuit.

"We won't hurt you," assured Neville and Blaise. "We really wanna help you!"

"Come on Harry, Hailey," said Susan and Hannah. "There's nothing to be afraid of!"

But Harry and Hailey were too paranoid to listen. They felt their hearts beating in fright and tears welling up in their eyes. Meanwhile, Daphne and Tracey made it inside and over to their respective mothers (who were talking to Amelia), with Daphne's mother also braiding Tori's hair.

"We found Harry and his friend," Daphne and Tracey informed their respective mothers, as well as Amelia. "They were within the trees."

"Really?" asked Amelia.

"Positive," said Daphne. "Neville, Blaise, Susan and Hannah went after them, attempting to convince them not to run away."

"Well, why don't we go outside and try to…" said Daphne's mother.

But at that moment, Neville, Blaise, Susan and Hannah came back in, out of breath. This was a clear indication that they didn't succeed in what they were doing.

"It wasn't any use," said Susan. "They still wouldn't listen to our assurances that we were trying to help them."

"They got frightened once more," said Neville. "I think we were able to see a little bit of tears in their eyes."

"It shocked us into backing off!" said Hannah.

"Yeah, it was like they were trying to distance themselves from us in any way possible." said Blaise.

"Those poor kids," said Daphne and Tori's mother, feeling sympathy for Harry and Hailey. "They feel that they can't trust anybody."

"Will they ever trust anyone, mum?" asked Tori, who was starting to feel sad for the runaways.

"I don't know, sweetie," said Daphne and Tori's mother. "It appears that they're alot more terrified than we thought."

"Oh okay." said Tori as she turned around to face the couch. She felt some tears shedding.

"Tori, are you alright?" asked her mother.

"Uh huuuuhhhh!" Tori responded, trying to hide the fact that she was in tears. "I juuuust do-on't want anybo-ody to… thi-ink that I'm… a..."

Tori couldn't finish the rest of her response. Her mother could tell how disturbed she really was about Harry and Hailey. Amelia also knew it and she also felt some emotions. She wasn't impressed with Albus for not allowing a wizarding family the opportunity to look after Harry. She remembered Minerva telling her about the Dursleys, which made the head of the DMLE realize that Harry had been placed with the Dursleys.

"Not at all, sweetie, not at all," said Tori's mother as she went to hug her youngest daughter in a comforting manner. "Don't think that crying will make us think any less of you! It's nothing to be ashamed of."

"Plus, you're not alone in feeling this way," Susan assured Tori, putting an arm around her shoulders. "Just look at what happened moments ago. Neville, Blaise, Hannah and myself tried to help Harry and his friend. But we didn't have any luck in convincing them not to run off again, even when we tried assuring them that we weren't out to hurt them."

"It's also showing that you care about them," assured Tori's mother, still hugging her youngest daughter comfortingly. "That day you offered them to play with you was proving it. Their turning down the offer wasn't anything against you personally. Harry and his friend were probably terrified that they would be lured into a trap. They may have tried getting help countless times before, but for them it just got worse every time they tried."

"That's right, Tori," said Amelia. "You're not the only one trying to help Harry and his friend. All of us here have been putting in some combined effort. Harry and his friend may not realize it, but maybe they feel grateful to you for the offer deep down."

Tori smiled a bit, even though her eyes were still full of tears. So her mother (with Daphne's help) tried to cheer her up, which was working as Tori began laughing. Amelia could also tell that trying to help Harry and Hailey was still far from finished.

'First chance I get,' thought Amelia, her anger directed at the headmaster of Hogwarts. 'I'm going to confront the ole coot for placing Harry with those wretched muggles! I _just_ know Minerva and Lily were right, those Dursleys are the worst kind!'

Meanwhile, Harry and Hailey continued running away as fast as possible. They didn't want to think about the possibility that they were still being followed, so they didn't look behind them at all. Once they felt they were far away from the kids who spotted them, Harry and Hailey stopped to rest. As they were doing so, a black dog happened to finally spot them.

'I'm here, pup,' thought the man in his dog form. 'I wish to reveal myself to you, but I don't want to see you and your friend frightened.'

"Harry, there's a black dog over there." said Hailey, pointing in the 'dog's' direction.

"Hi, boy," Harry greeted the 'dog' (not realizing that the dog was his godfather). "Are you lost or something?"

The 'dog' walked toward Harry and Hailey and sat down in front of them. Unaware that the 'dog' was a person in an animagus form, the runaways decided to confide in to it.

"I don't know if you ran away from abusive owners," the runaways spoke to the 'dog' in unison, petting it at the same time. "But we did exactly that near the end of September because our so called families abused us. Not many of our teachers tried to get us any help and any who did were blacklisted. It's like anytime we tried getting help, it only made things worse. All we ever wanted was a loving and caring family, but that wish has never been granted. Despite our efforts, we have no idea who to trust because we don't wanna go back to any abusive environment. We do have someone helping us, but even _he_ hasn't had much luck in getting charges filed against our respective so called families."

The man still in his dog form couldn't believe what all he was told. He especially knew that Albus underestimated the Dursleys big time that night. He was angry with Albus Too-Many-Names Dumbledore for not allowing Harry to rightfully go to him.

'I, Sirius Orion Black, vow to keep Harry and his friend safe,' thought the man in determination. 'But I shouldn't reveal myself yet, one step at a time.'

After a little while, the runaways (and their companion) got up and resumed their journey. They traveled south for at least an hour or so when they spotted something that no muggle driving by noticed. Hailey knew that it was a magical express station. This gave them a chance to get out of England (believing they weren't safe). As they approached the station, they heard some announcement that the passing muggles also didn't hear.

"Forty-five minutes left to purchase tickets for Orleans, France!" the announcement revealed.

"France!" said Hailey with fascination. "Maybe we can make it to Paris and see the Eiffel Tower!"

"I remember seeing a picture of that tower in a book back in the library at St. Grogery's," said Harry, equally fascinated. "It's always been intriguing to visit!"

"So we should get a ticket to a city in France?" asked Hailey, intending to make sure.

"Definitely," said Harry. "I'm not sure how far this Orleans _is_ from Paris, but I don't think it's anything we can't handle."

"Okay," said Hailey, as she and Harry turned toward the 'dog.' "Sorry boy, I don't think they allow pets on trains, even magical ones."

"Sorry to cut the time with you," Harry apologized. "We don't feel safe here in England. Plus, we wanna go to this Orleans in France and make our way over to Paris. We wish to get an actual look at the Eiffel Tower."

So the runaways petted the 'dog' before going to the station. Before they were in plain view, Harry and Hailey got their tent set up, so they could disguise themselves. Hailey gave Harry some hair jelly, so he could comb his untidy black hair while Hailey undid the ponytail and began tying her hair into pigtails and then braiding them. Sirius (while still in his dog form) realized that he could leave the country himself, so he decided to go to Paris himself.

'I'll see you and your friend in Paris soon, pup,' thought Sirius. 'At the same time, I can reach out to someone who can help me get a trial I never received! But I must stay in my animagus form until then. If I want to be fatherly figure to Harry, I must do anything I can. Maybe this could be a wonderful surprise for pup and his friend.'

With that thought, Sirius ran off towards the south-southeastern coast of England. Harry and Hailey finished disguising themselves to avoid (or at least reduce) any more incidents of getting spotted and recognized. Harry saw his combed hair in a mirror and admired it, even Hailey admired it.

"That should make you unrecognizable, Harry!" said Hailey.

"Yeah, as long as my scar is also hidden, we shouldn't have too many problems," stated Harry. Then he saw Hailey's braided hair. "What kind of hairstyle is that?"

"Braided pigtails," said Hailey. "This is the first time since my mum died where I had my hair put like this. She would be the one to do it, so from the time since until now, I would just put my hair into a ponytail."

"I see," said Harry. "Hopefully, that will help make you unrecognizable."

"Yeah," said Hailey. "Are you ready to go buy a couple tickets for Orleans, France?"

"Yes," said Harry. "But, do they accept what would be called muggle money?"

"I have no clue," said Hailey. "But it seems unlikely."

When the runaways picked up their respective backpacks to check for everything needed, Harry spotted some kind of bag that he hadn't seen before and showed it to Hailey.

"This bag is full of… wizarding money!" said Hailey, surprised. "This is also called a bottomless bag. You can put as much as you want in it without worry of it getting a bulge."

"What are these coins supposed to be called?" asked Harry curiously.

"These bronze ones are called knuts," stated Hailey, showing Harry each coin. "The silver ones are called sickles and the gold ones are called galleons. Twenty-nine bronze knuts make up a silver sickle and seventeen silver sickles make up a gold galleon."

"Got it!" said Harry in understanding.

So the runaways double-checked their backpacks to make sure they had all the necessities. Despite Harry having combed his hair with the hair jelly, Hailey still applied makeup over the scar to be safe (since the scar would've been exposed as a result of the hair being combed). Once they walked out of the tent and packed it up, Harry and Hailey took some deep breaths and looked each other in the eyes.

"Well, let's do this!" said the runaways to each other, with determination in their voices.

So they began walking toward the magical train station. As they made it to the booth where tickets were sold, the witch in charge looked at the kids in surprise (raising her eyebrows in the process).

"How much are two tickets to Orleans, France?" asked Harry.

"That'll be… seventy-five galleons," said the witch. "But, aren't you two a little young to be purchasing train tickets?"

"Well, my mum was going to join us," said Hailey, using (for the first time ever since running into the man named Arthur Weasley shortly after the start of their journey) a cover story. "But, my grandma doesn't like traveling alone and she was also invited along. So my mum gave my friend and I some money so we could purchase some tickets and they would wait to join us in a few days."

"My parents are waiting in Orleans, or at least close by it," said Harry, adding more to their cover story. "So we'll be meeting them at the train station once the train ride is over."

Hailey nodded her head, so the witch in charge of the tickets shrugged her shoulders. She couldn't see any harm in that, and plus there wasn't any proof that the story was false. At the same time, she was impressed with how fit the kids were. So Harry paid for the tickets, then the witch gave Harry and Hailey their tickets. Once they approached a car, the conductor showed the runaways over to a compartment. Even the conductor was impressed with the kids' being in shape and looking healthy. The compartment revealed that there were two beds in the same room, making Harry and Hailey look a little chagrined. Harry closed the sliding compartment door, so neither he nor Hailey had to worry about getting disturbed.

"I do wonder how we'll make it out of the train station without anyone getting suspicious of us." said Hailey.

"I don't know," said Harry. "But we have some time to plan that out, assuming that the journey will take a few hours or so."

"Pretty much," said Hailey as she checked an overhead clock. "It's only 11:30 AM, and the train leaves at noon."

"Yeah, but I think France is in a different time zone than England," said Harry. "And it's like southeast, so it'll be like an hour later."

All too soon, it was nearing the time for the train to leave the station. Once it was noon, the conductor's voice was heard throughout the train.

"All aboard!" the conductor announced.

The train started leaving the platform and finally the station altogether. Harry and Hailey looked out their compartment window as the train was moving. Their hearts started beating with excitement, since they couldn't wait for the chance to get an actual look at the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The runaways were unaware that the dog was an animagus and that the man named Sirius Black was on his way to Paris himself. There were also bound to be more eventual surprises awaiting the runaways. Harry and Hailey continued looking out the window to watch the scenery as a way of distracting them from the train ride to the magical station near Orleans, France. While the train ride continued, Sirius (in his dog form) began his long journey swimming to France, so he could reunite with Harry and Hailey. Sirius knew it was going to feel like an eternity, but he was determined to do anything for his godson.

'I'm coming for you, pup. I'll be there for you and your friend soon. Just be patient, I'll be in France and find you two in no time!' thought Sirius as he continued swimming across the English Channel.

 _The End!_

 **Author's note 1: Well, Harry and Hailey finally crossed paths with Sirius (despite the latter being in his animagus form). The runaways are also out of England and on their way to France, with Sirius determined to do whatever it took to find Harry and Hailey again. Will Harry and Hailey finally get their wish to have a loving and caring family? Will Xander succeed in finding the evidence to help press further charges against Hailey's father? Will Sirius reunite with the runaways? Will the runaways' searchers get a tip off on their whereabouts? Will the Dursleys finally face justice? Check my profile page for new stories if you're interested, to keep an eye out for the sequel!**

 **Author's note 2: I'd like to give a shoutout to 'setokayba2n' for suggesting that Harry and Hailey leave England. That idea was suggested a while back and I spent time coming up with the right idea for Harry and Hailey to get out of England, but the main idea belongs to 'setokayba2n.'**

 **An anonymous reviewer known as 'Gregory Hannsen' also suggested that Harry and Hailey somehow meet up with Sirius (even though he was in his animagus) and come trust him in some way, so I'd like to give a shoutout to that reviewer.**


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